Mystery of the Somewhat Staff
by RonnyBravo
Summary: After waking up to an empty Skyworld, Pit discovers a fully living Somewhat Staff that literally drags him into his next big adventure. On his way, he'll make strange new friends and uncover an enemy more powerful than he could ever imagine, all while the staff itself has its mysteries unraveled... Sister Story to Dark Triad.
1. A Somewhat Strange Morning

Chapter 1: A Somewhat Strange Morning

Pit awoke to the sound of absolute silence. No yelling. No screaming. Lady Palutena hadn't even tried to wake him up for a mission. Usually he would have been sent out for the day to check on the humans because of strange evil activity radiating from the surface of the planet, but nothing had woken him up this morning. Pit decided that it was too strange to not investigate and got out of bed immediately, leaving his room in haste in order to find exactly what was going on.

He walked up and down the hallways of the temple and checked inside of every room, but found nothing. It was strange. It seemed as though his room was the only one that radiated any sort cheerful tone, something that most of Skyworld did itself. It hadn't even been this gloomy and quiet back when Palutena had been controlled by the Chaos Kin. Pit looked out one of the long windows of the temple and breathed in some fresh air to cure the nausea he was feeling from having the suspicion of being the only person left in the temple.

As he looked out over Skyworld, he found that it felt the same as most of the temple; very gloomy and desolate. Nausea overtook Pit again. He told himself over and over again that what was going on wasn't going on. He pinched himself a few times before doing another full search of the temple. He found nothing.

"Oh gosh," he said to himself as he returned to the temple's courtyard, "I'm the only one here." He repeated this multiple times before trying to comfort himself again, though it brought no avail. After standing in place talking to himself for a half hour, he finally decided on the terrifying fact that Skyworld was empty, as in no life left, except for him. Then he screamed.

"LADY PALUTENA!" he cried. No response.

"LADY PALUTENA!" he cried again. It was futile. Pit was about to start crying until he heard a voice in his head.

"Come boy," it said.

"Lady… Palutena?" Pit asked in surprise.

"Of course not!" it exclaimed impatiently, "I am most certainly not a lady, and my name certainly is not Palutena!" Pit felt foolish for asking what he did as the voice was gruff and masculine, and definitely did not belong to Palutena.

"Where are you?" asked Pit.

"Feel my energy radiating," it responded. That didn't help. Pit couldn't feel anything but gloom around him.

"What energy?" he asked after another few minutes. Then he paused before asking his next question, "Wait, who are you?"

"If you can find me, I will tell," it said, slowly becoming more impatient with Pit's little display of confusion. Pit decided it was best not to talk any longer and once again focused on his surroundings. Still he could not feel a single spark of energy, except from the direction of his room. He concluded that he must head there and walked back in that direction.

"Am I getting warmer?" asked Pit as he walked into his room, seeing that it was, as usual, rather untidy.

"At least something is normal…" Pit muttered to himself.

"No," said the voice in his head after a few seconds, "As a matter of fact, you just walked away from where I am." Pit sighed and walked back towards the courtyard. He suddenly came to the realization that as he had searched the temple twice, he had not found any of the weapons he had on hand.

"Hey voice in my head," he started, "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"I will tell you when you find me," said the voice. Pit was getting frustrated with whoever the voice belonged to himself, so he found it surprising that he was able to pick up a weak energy reading from inside where Palutena's inner sanctum was. He had never been in there before because it was forbidden, but that was where the reading was coming from so…

Without a second thought, Pit dashed up the steps and into the sanctum, only to find that it was completely void of everything, including light. He couldn't see a thing but he could still feel the energy signal getting stronger as he moved along.

"I can feel you coming closer young angel," said the voice, "Follow my energy."

"That's what I'm doing," said Pit as he walked along the energy path as though it were a rope that he was hanging onto in order to keep his balance. It led him to a small alcove in the wall that was invisible in the darkness and that he was barely able to squeeze through. His wings felt squished against his back and he sidled into it. Thankfully, it was very short and Pit pushed out of it and into a dimly lit room with the small remains of a hot spring pooled around a pedestal, which had on its top a Somewhat Staff.

Energy rushed into Pit's head like a typhoon. This kind of power he never felt unless he was around a very powerful weapon, as though all weapons gave off a powerful energy, the ones who were the most powerful naturally gave off more than the rest. If it weren't for his laurel crown, he would have had a severe headache around these kinds of weapons, as it channeled the energy through itself and then pushed it back out.

"So… what now?" asked Pit to the voice.

"Excellent work," he heard a voice around him say. Pit jumped back and hit his head against the wall.

"Ouch!" he cried. The voice in the room was the same as the voice that had been in his head.

"You have found me," said the voice, "Now I can explain."

"Who are you?" asked Pit, startled, "What do you mean I've found you? There's nobody here!"

"Please allow me to explain," said the voice, "I am the staff you see in front of you. I am the spirit of this Somewhat Staff." Pit almost jumped back again in surprise.

"How is that possible?" he asked. The staff suddenly twitched and then shot into the air, then slowly descending down towards Pit, levitating above the ground. The eye on its hilt looked directly at him.

"So you doubt that I am really alive?" it asked. Pit was so startled he almost pushed himself back into the alcove, instead circling around and stepping into the water on the ground. The voice was quite

literally coming from the staff.

"I-I knew that Somewhat Staffs were living creatures b-but I didn't…" Pit stuttered.

"You didn't know we could speak?" it asked him, "Why of course! Not many can speak as well as I do however. Now, please allow me to explain why I have called you here." Pit backed up into the pedestal and decided it was best to sit down as his knees were practically knocking in shock from seeing the staff move on its own.

"G-go ahead," said Pit as he sat there shaking.

"I fear that the gods have fallen silent," said the staff, "In other words, they are all being held somewhere."

"Wait, so it isn't just Lady Palutena?" asked Pit.

"No, surely Viridi would have come to your aid had Palutena not answered you, even though the nature goddess doesn't particularly like you," said the staff, "And Palutena did not answer you, yet neither Viridi, nor Poseidon or Dyntos, other gods that fall into the 'good' category, have answered your calls."

"Are you saying they were kidnapped by someone?" asked Pit.

"I believe so," said the staff grimly as it floated over to Pit's side, "Though it wasn't the normal evil's doing. It was something far more dangerous and mysterious."

"What was it?" asked Pit.

"I don't know," said the staff, "If I did, I would most certainly tell you. All I can say is this; they took the most extraneous precautions in order to cover their tracks and to prevent you from following those exact tracks considering you find them."

"By taking all of my weapons," said Pit.

"Precisely," said the staff.

"But… you're a weapon," said Pit in slight confusion, "Why were you not taken?"

"This evil I believe cannot set foot within a hot spring," said the staff, its eye gleaming slyly, "It would kill it instantly."

"Reapers?" asked Pit. Reapers were completely vulnerable to hot spring water and died immediately if it touched even the slightest spot on their skin.

"I said before, this is not an ordinary enemy you are used to facing," said the staff, "Reapers are out of the question. The answer is far worse." Pit shuddered at that thought. Reapers were likely the toughest enemies he had ever faced. If anything aside from a Clubberskull or Clobbler could top that… The staff suddenly flew into Pit's right hand and he instinctively gripped it like he would any other weapon.

"To find the answer, the thing that has taken the gods captive, you must take me as your own weapon and use me to eliminate the evil that opposes us," the staff said, "Are you with me?"

"Absolutely!" Pit cried excitedly. Then his excitement faded.

"What if this requires… flying?" asked Pit nervously.

"Worry not about that," said the staff, "This mission draws out entirely on the surface."

"Oh good, because I can't fly," said Pit. The staff's eye looked at him as though he were an idiot.

You can't… fly," it said, "Yet you have wings…"

"They… don't work right," said Pit in embarrassment.

"No matter," said the staff, "Fate drew us together. And it is fate's fault that you cannot fly, as well as the fact that you are the hero to go on this mission to save the gods."

"Oh boy…" said Pit. They sat in silence for a few moments before Pit spoke up.

"So when do we have to go on this mission to save the gods?" asked Pit.

"As soon as you're ready," said the staff, "All you must do is jump off of these floating islands. Fate will decide the rest of your course."

"Wait, you want me to jump off of Skyworld while my wings don't work?" asked Pit in alarm.

"Of course," said the staff, "It shouldn't be too much of a struggle. I doubt fate would let the chosen hero fall to his doom."

"Unless fate is mean…" Pit muttered under his breath.

"So let us make haste!" the staff cried. It suddenly pulled Pit towards the alcove he had come from.

"W-wait," Pit cried, "We aren't going to take any more time to discuss this!?"

"Haven't you ever been on a mission where you could have very well been killed?" asked the staff, pausing a moment to address him.

"Well… yeah, but…" The staff cut him off.

"Then let's go!" it yelled, pulling harder. Pit was dragged painfully through the alcove and then out of the sanctum. It pulled him towards the exit of the temple and then towards the edge of the floating island it lied upon. All of this time, it never occurred to Pit that he could have let go of the staff and saved time before he would have to enter this new journey. However, he only gripped harder, and continued gripping the hilt of the staff as he fell over the edge of Skyworld and into oblivion below. A new journey had begun.

* * *

**A/N: This story is fiercely intertwined with a story that my friend, Game777Guy, is writing. That story is called the Dark Triad, and it can be found on both of our accounts. If the two stories are not read together, there will be events later in the story that will not be understood.**

**Oh, and before I forget, neither of us own Kid Icarus. All of its characters, places, and ideas belong to Nintendo. **


	2. The Motherless Child

Chapter 2: The Motherless Child

Pit awoke to find himself lying in a bed. It certainly wasn't his, because the sheets and blankets were different colors. He was unable to think straight for a few seconds, as his head was throbbing with pain from an extreme energy spark. He realized that his laurels must have been taken off, as he saw the talking Somewhat Staff lying on the nightstand nearby. Still unable to think straight from the massive amount of energy flowing through his head, he happened to notice that a girl with pale blonde hair in a pony-tail was standing over him.

"You're awake!" she cried. Pit clutched his head in pain. The energy smashing into his mind was giving him a headache.

"Where… are… my… laurels?" he asked as he held his head in pain. The girl seemed concerned, as though she had done something wrong.

"You need them?" she asked, "I thought they were hurting your head."

"No… channel energy… head hurts…" Pit said unable to open his eyes with how much pain he was going through. The girl quickly grabbed the laurel crown off of a hook nearby and placed it on his head. The energy straightened out and Pit felt normal again.

"That's much better," he said, "Now where am I?"

"You're in my house!" said the girl as though it were obvious, "I found you lying out in the field with that weird staff next to you." She pointed at the Somewhat Staff. Pit was about to acknowledge the fact that the staff was weird when he suddenly thought of something.

"You can see it?" Pit asked in disbelief, "Are you human?"

"Well… as far as I know," said the girl, "The name is Vinnia by the way. What's yours?" Pit took a little bit to respond. He was still trying to think of a reason for this Vinnia to be able to see his weapon, since only a select few of the humans on the planet could see the weapons of the gods. Magnus, a mercenary Pit had battled alongside in the war against the Underworld was included in that select few. Unless Vinnia was a god herself (or an angel in disguise), she couldn't possibly see it.

"I'm Pit," he said, "Servant of the goddess Palutena." Vinnia let out a small gasp.

"You serve _the_ goddess Palutena?" she asked in amazement, "No wonder you're an angel!" Pit scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Yeah, I guess you would have noticed that," he said. Unlike the weapons, humans could most certainly see angels, and monsters for that matter.

"Well, you've finally come around!" the Somewhat Staff rang out as it sprung up from the nightstand and hovered over Pit. Vinnia jumped a good three feet.

"What in the world!?" she cried.

"Oh, I apologize dear girl," said the staff, "I am a rare breed of Somewhat Staff who is fully alive! I'm still a weapon though, but very much alive." Vinnia calmed down.

"So what are you doing here anyway with this… living weapon?" asked Vinnia.

"Oh right!" Pit exclaimed, "I'm here on the surface so that I can find where the gods are being held captive by some evil force."

"Oh, no wonder the weather has been so bad lately," said Vinnia, "We humans consider it an omen."

"So where are your parents?" asked Pit.

"I don't know where my mom is," said Vinnia sadly, "My dad doesn't even know who or where she is. I think she's alive though."

"Oh, that's too bad," said Pit, "Hey, maybe you could come with me and this staff to find the gods! Maybe then you could find your mom."

"Thanks, but my dad probably wouldn't let me," said Vinnia, "When I get really emotional… well, let's just say weird stuff happens. Dad's the only one who can keep me from going berserk."

"And plus, it's far too dangerous to bring a human on this quest with us," said the Somewhat Staff matter-of-factly, "Such an action would disappoint the goddess of light."

"I guess you guys are right," said Pit, "Where is your dad anyway?"

"On guard duty," said Vinnia, "Ever since the weird monsters started showing up they've had to reinforce patrol."

"Weird monsters?" asked Pit. Right on cue, a slimy beast burst through the window and shattered the glass. Vinnia screamed. The creature was no more than three feet high, but it had a single eye in the center of its forehead that was colored indigo. Pit instinctively grabbed the staff out of the air and began shooting balls of light at the beast. Within no time at all, it was disintegrated into dust.

"Those monsters," said Vinnia, "We've been calling them Slimeclopses."

"That makes sense," said Pit, spinning the Somewhat Staff above his head and grabbing it by the hilt.

"Not so hard lad!" said the staff, "You don't want to choke me do you?"

"You have a neck?" asked Pit.

"As a matter of fact I do," said the staff, "I'd appreciate if you held me lower." Pit felt awkward talking to a staff, but he did as he was told.

"Much better!" said the staff, "Now, we must get out of here posthaste!"

"Sorry we have to leave so soon," said Pit, shaking Vinnia's hand, "Thanks for your hospitality."

"No problem at all," said Vinnia, "And good luck!" Pit rushed out the door and towards the exit. Vinnia watched as he opened up the door and slammed it behind him. She felt something tugging at her gut, like someone was calling her.

"Mother…" she said softly. She had never met her mother, or known what she might have been like. According to her father, he had found her lying at his doorstep crying. There was a note attached to her basket. She pulled it out of her pocket, where she kept it safe in hopes that someday it would lead her to her mother. It read:

"I leave you this child, _our_ child, so that you may care after her. I wish I could do so myself, but I fear it is impossible due to the duties I must perform. Please take care of her. Signed, you know who."

She always had wondered who 'you know who' was. It had to be her mother, but who was her mother? Without giving a second thought, she rushed out the door herself, so as to follow Pit and see if she could find some answers.

* * *

Pit ran into at least four more of the Slimeclopses on his way out of town. It was hard not to attract attention from the townsfolk who seemed unfazed by the presence of the monsters, but he managed to do so. He climbed the wall at the edge of the town and ended up outside of the town boundaries. There was nothing but open field for miles around.

"Now what?" asked Pit.

"I have no idea," said the staff, looking at him, "Got any ideas?"

"I should be asking you that," said Pit, trying to decide which direction he would go. Then, as if from nowhere, Vinnia's voice called out to him.

"Hey, Pit!" she called. He looked up and saw that Vinnia was sitting on the wall above him.

"What are you doing?" asked Pit in shock.

"I'm coming with you," said Vinnia as she jumped down from the ten foot high wall. A normal person would have twisted their ankle or something as they jumped down had they not had the proper training to land on both feet, but it seemed as though Vinnia did this all the time. On top of that, it didn't seem that the grasses around her were going to let her break her ankle anyways, because from Pit's angle, he thought he saw them all move around each other so as to create a soft landing for her. She walked over to him.

"I thought you said your father wouldn't let you," said Pit.

"I did," said Vinnia, "But the idea that I could find out who my mother is just intrigues me!"

"How can you possibly think that you will come out of this alive?" asked the staff, "You are only a human!"

"Maybe I am," said Vinnia, "But humans can do stuff too."

"It's true you know," said Pit, chiming in on the conversation. The staff was unable to argue with them. Soon they were on their way, heading south, because that sounded good. However, they were only five minutes into their journey when Vinnia stopped and spoke up.

"Wait a minute," said Vinnia.

"What is it?" asked Pit.

"This is the wrong way," she said.

"How can you tell?" asked the staff before Pit could argue.

"The wind doesn't feel right," she said. Pit looked confused.

"The… wind?" asked Pit.

"Yes," she said, "I feel that the wind is telling us to turn left and go to the west."

"_Great,_" Pit thought, "_First a talking staff and now a girl who can read winds._"

"Are you sure?" asked Pit.

"I wouldn't disregard the wind," said staff.

"Great, you too?" said Pit in annoyance.

"Two to one!" Vinnia exclaimed, "Let's go!" She turned to the east and they began walking again. Pit was reluctant to follow but he did.

They ended up at the edge of a cliff.

"So this was the right way huh?" said Pit in annoyance. Vinnia blinked.

"That's funny," she said, "I was sure the wind was speaking to me back there. It always does…"

"Always?" asked Pit in sudden interest.

"Yeah," said Vinnia, "Everything around me… I always hear the voices in my head telling me what to do and where to go and stuff like that."

"That is so weird," said Pit, "And you have no idea why?"

"No, I've never really considered that," said Vinnia.

"I wonder…" Pit said to himself.

"Wonder what?" asked Vinnia.

"Never mind," he said, "What do we do now that we've hit the edge of a cliff? I don't think your precious winds are going to tell us the right way."

"But they always have!" Vinnia cried. Pit folded his arms in annoyance but out of the corner of his eye spotted something in the valley.

"Wait, what is that?" Pit asked pointing down into the valley below. In the valley was a very blatant temple, so blatant that Pit wasn't even sure if they should have jumped down to check it out. When they did however, they found that it was just like any other temple that a human would have built, dedicated to a god of some sort, that god obviously not being Palutena, as it was shrouded in darkness.

"What is this place?" asked Pit.

"I don't know," said Vinnia, "I didn't even know it existed."

"Ah, then perhaps it's a sign," said the staff.

"A sign of what?" asked Pit.

"A sign telling us where we must go," said the staff.

"So the winds were right… hmm…" said Pit to himself.

"Let's go inside!" Vinnia exclaimed, already running towards the temple.

"Hey, wait!" Pit called. He clutched the staff in his hand and charged after her, already on guard for anything that could possibly attack them.

The temple looked pretty normal on the inside as well, as there were a couple of altars and an enormous statue of the god the temple was dedicated to. Pit couldn't recognize it because it was broken in many places. They were very clearly female however. They looked over the temple as Pit and Vinnia walked around inside of it.

"Whose temple do you think this is?" asked Vinnia.

"I'm not sure," said Pit, looking closely at what had been placed on the altars. There were many scorched grain offerings, not particularly by fire, but heat. Pit naturally assumed that maybe it was a goddess of heat. As a result, he wasn't surprised that the temperature was higher inside the temple than outside. Vinnia suddenly collapsed on the floor, beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.

"It… it's really hot in here…" said Vinnia through gasping breaths.

"What are you talking about?" asked Pit, "It's the same temperature as when we came in…" Pit suddenly felt it too. Something was there with them and causing the temperature to rise rapidly. They both started to sweat profusely and Pit helped Vinnia up with his free hand.

"Who dares trespass in my temple?" asked an echoing voice. Pit heard it well and he was pretty sure that it was male.

"Your temple?" asked Pit in the blistering heat, "This temple is dedicated to a goddess!"

"Very clearly," said the Somewhat Staff.

"And plus, if you're here, where are all of the other gods?" asked Pit.

"No questions or I'll scorch you both to death!" the voice yelled.

"Why don't you show yourself so we know who's scorching us first?" asked Pit.

"Gladly," said the speaker, "Even if I do you'll never defeat me in battle." A scorching gust of wind blew through the temple as a figure stepped out of the shadows towards the back of the room. It was a young boy in a pretty normal outfit. As a matter of fact, if the ball of wind in his hand was ignored, Pit would have mistaken him for a normal human.

"Zephynn the wind user," he said, "At your service."


	3. Conflict at the West Wind Temple

Chapter 3: Conflict at the West Wind Temple

Pit, Vinnia, and the staff all stared at Zephynn as he held the ball of wind in his hand.

"You guys look like fish in a frying pan!" he exclaimed, "Maybe I should burn you up a bit more."

"Why are you here?" asked Pit.

"I already told you, this is my temple," said Zephynn, "Why are you here, trespassing on my property?"

"I thought temples were dedicated to gods," said Vinnia.

"And what right have you to say anything at all?" asked Zephynn, getting in her face. Vinnia smacked him and he backed away holding his cheek.

"Ow!" he cried, "That hurt!"

"It was supposed to hurt," said Vinnia, "Don't get in my face. I can do a lot worse."

"You are a wind user?" the staff asked him.

"Yeah," said Zephynn staring at the staff's many eyes, "You got a problem with that?"

"No, it's just surprising that a human could have such abilities," said the staff.

"I'm special," said Zephynn braggingly, "My mom happens to govern this temple and she's the best wind user in the universe!"

"Where is she?" asked Pit. Zephynn's expression changed immediately.

"I don't know," he whimpered, "That's why I'm here praying. She hasn't been answering and I'm really worried." He fell on his face crying. Vinnia looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Dude, my mom has been missing for my whole life," said Vinnia, "Be glad you have one at all." Zephynn shot up at her with a ball of wind in his hand.

"Shut your mouth!" he yelled, "It's harder to lose a family member than to not have one!"

"Oh yeah?" said Vinnia mockingly and clearly in disgust.

"Yeah!" said Zephynn, as he slammed the ball of wind into her face and sending her flying to the front of the temple.

"Hey!" Pit yelled. He readied the staff, but it pulled itself back into resting stance.

"Let them deal out what they need to," said the staff, "This is necessary if they are to understand their problems."

"Trying to kill themselves is a necessary action?!" Pit cried.

"No, you'll see," said the staff. Pit watched from behind a statue as Zephynn readied another ball of wind so as to fire it at Vinnia, who was getting up slowly. He threw it at her but she simply glared it down and it vaporized into the air before it hit her. Zephynn lowered his hands in amazement.

"Did you just…" he didn't get the time to finish. Vinnia had her left hand raised and Zephynn looked around, suddenly turning to see that large spiky vines were sticking out of the ground behind him and approaching him quickly. He tried to run, but they caught his arms and legs and he was immobilized. Pit watched in shock.

"You should learn something about me," said Vinnia, glaring at Zephynn, "I am always right. _You_ are like an annoying little brother." She commanded the vines to throw him towards the back of the temple and they did. He landed with a thud. Vinnia walked towards him and the vines split for her so that she could walk through.

"This is not Vinnia," Pit whispered, "This is like… Viridi!" Vinnia made the vines pop out of the ground around Zephynn again. Zephynn kept his cool and knocked them back with a blast of wind. Then he tried to run.

"Oh no you don't!" Vinnia yelled. The vines followed him and tied him up. She walked up to him furiously.

"Just leave me alone already!" Zephynn cried in defeat, "I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!"

"Where are your manners?" she asked causing the vines to squeeze tighter.

"I'm sorry… ma'am?" he said, finding it difficult to breathe. The vines squeezed tighter.

"Please… let me… go!" he said, gasping for breath. The vines continued to squeeze. Then a blast of pink energy smashed into the vines and destroyed them, freeing Zephynn who fell to his knees gasping for breath. Pit walked up, swinging the staff above his head.

"That's enough!" the staff yelled, "Really Vinnia, what are you thinking?"

"What is wrong with you?" asked Pit, "This isn't the Vinnia I met a couple of hours ago."

"Butt out!" Vinnia yelled, readying another set of vines to try to kill them too. As the vines shot out of the ground, Pit did the only thing that came naturally; he shot. Vinnia was knocked backwards and one of the vines caught her. Pit backed up in terror as the vine set her on the ground.

"I said, BUTT OUT!" she yelled. The vines shot at him again, but Pit was faster than them, jumping from vine to vine in order to get closer to her. Then he jumped behind her and shot down all the vines in quick succession. Finally, he grabbed her arms and held them behind her.

"Get off of me!" she yelled. Zephynn watched from behind a broken statue of his mother as Pit kept her in his grip.

"If there are any gods still out there, I need your help!" he yelled to the roof of the temple, "I need you to calm her down!" He got no response and Vinnia continued to struggle against his grasp. More vines flew from the ground behind him and pulled him off of her. She turned around and glared at him.

"You just never learn do you Pit?" she said fiercely. Just as she was about to throw him, a flash of light lit the temple so brightly that nobody present could see. When the light cleared, Zephynn had disappeared, and Vinnia was lying unconscious at Pit's feet. Another flash of light blinded Pit, and he threw himself over Vinnia. This light cleared and Pit quickly picked Vinnia off the ground and made a run for it.

He saw a shadow following him out of the corner of his eye and shot at it, hitting both the wall and a pillar, thus causing the pillar to collapse and the roof to cave in a little. As Pit exited the temple, he fired again, destroying a few altars. This shot caused the shadow to disappear, but Pit didn't even regard the occurrence and dashed off into the valley with Vinnia slung over his left shoulder and the Somewhat Staff in his right hand.


	4. An Open Field Assault

Chapter 4: An Open Field Assault

Pit watched over Vinnia's unconscious body worriedly. She seemed to have undergone some sort of a transformation back in the temple that wore of after the light flashed and blinded them. Pit figured she had used too much of her inner strength, and had figured something out for certain; she was definitely descended from Viridi in some way or another, which explained her ability to see angelic weapons and her strange power over nature. He wasn't going to tell her though, for he feared that if he did, she would only grow worse.

"What happened to Zephynn?" Pit asked the Somewhat Staff.

"I believe that whoever was causing those bright flashes of light may have wanted to take Vinnia and Zephynn captive," said the staff, "You protected Vinnia though. Zephynn may have been taken."

"But to where?" asked Pit.

"Who knows?" said the staff. Vinnia stirred suddenly. Pit watched her get up slowly and hold her head in pain.

"What happened?" she asked groggily.

"You went insane and tried to kill Zephynn and me," said Pit, "Is that what you were talking about when you said that only your dad could control you when your emotions got out of hand?"

"Yeah…" said Vinnia, "I don't know why, it just happens when someone sets me off. I promise you, if I tried to hurt you at all back there, it wasn't on purpose. I lose control of myself and…"

"I understand," said Pit, "It's alright. But Zephynn got kidnapped."

"So what?" said Vinnia, crossing her arms, "I could care less about him."

"Don't get too mad," said Pit, "You don't want to go insane again do you?" Vinnia rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she said, "So I suppose since you're the angel you have to rescue him right? If so, you can count me out. It's his fault I almost tried to kill you."

"Uh… you did try to kill me," said Pit, "And it's not his fault."

"It's fate," said the staff interrupting the conversation, "It's always the fault of fate."

"Shut up," said Vinnia, "You're getting annoying too." Pit took the staff in hand and got up.

"Well, if you don't want to be around us, we'd better get going," said Pit.

"We're just going to leave her here?" asked the staff.

"If she doesn't want to come with us to save someone who's perfectly innocent that _she_ tried to kill…" Vinnia shot up and tried to smack Pit, but he grabbed her hand before it could come upon his face.

"Vinnia," said Pit, "It's our fault for working him up. We trespassed into his mother's temple and he was startled. That's why he attacked us. And it's better to make friends than enemies. You do that by not retaliating when someone tries to get in your face." With that, he walked off to the north without even looking back. After careful consideration, Vinnia followed him.

Of course, neither of them knew where they were going and they found themselves wandering around a large, grassy, empty plain. They didn't communicate either, and simply walked in silence, completely ignoring each other. The staff looked between them constantly with its eye, worried that they might have lost any trust in each other.

He was reassured however when a couple of Slimeclopses popped up out of the ground randomly and Pit blasted them away from Vinnia. No sooner had they been destroyed did five Monoeyes appear and attack them. Pit easily took them out with shots from the Somewhat Staff. Once they had all vanished in small, individual flashes of light from taking damage, Pit swung his staff over his head professionally and took his resting stance.

"That was unexpected," said Pit, looking around for any more that might strike them.

"Where could they have come from?" asked Vinnia.

"I don't know," said Pit, "I don't think the Underworld had the Slimeclopses on their side in the last war." Words ceased to be spoken for the next few seconds before Pit addressed the staff in his hand.

"Say, you said in Skyworld that this wasn't a normal enemy we're up against," said Pit, "But those were Monoeyes, and I fight them all the time."

"I'm as confused as you are," said the staff, "I am limited in knowledge of this world. I could've sworn that…"

"Look out!" Vinnia yelled in interruption. Pit grabbed her by the arm and jumped back as a large ball of purple energy smashed into the ground in front of them. A group of Miks and Monoeyes were hovering above them nearby and were charging more energy balls. Pit shot them with a few charge shots and then instinctively turned around and shot behind him. He hit a Skuttler straight in the face and destroyed it. Monoeyes surrounded them as Pit took out the other two that had been there. Pit held up his staff in readiness for fire from the flying, one-eyed fish but Vinnia suddenly held up her hands and their fire hit a shield of vines.

"Nice!" Pit exclaimed, "Don't go crazy!"

"Drop it," Vinnia said harshly from behind him. The vines smacked away the Monoeyes so that they were easy targets for Pit, who shot them with the staff. All was quiet within the next few seconds. Pit withdrew to resting position in order to catch his breath.

"What is going on here?!" he cried.

"Don't ask me," said Vinnia, withdrawing the vines to the ground, "I'm not responsible." Pit heard the Viridi growing in her voice again and said no more, fearing another transformation. Pit and Vinnia continued walking to the north, wary of anymore enemy attacks that might come their way. Eventually they ended up walking along rocky ground leading out of the pastoral countryside. A city came into view in the distance in the light of the setting sun.

"Finally," said Vinnia, "I need someplace to rest."

"Me too," said Pit, "What city is that?"

"I think its name is Vagrant City…" said Vinnia, mulling the name over in her head, "Yeah, that's it. We had to memorize the names of the cities that are in the general vicinity of my hometown in school. It's a pretty wide general vicinity."

"Perhaps we can receive a hint as to where the gods are being held," said the staff, trying to get into the conversation.

"Are this mission and fate all you ever think about?" asked Pit in annoyance.

"No," said the staff, "I can talk about other things. Speaking of other things, I feel like we're being watched. No wait, we are being watched."

"We are?" Pit questioned, "By whom?" He was suddenly thrown forward by the impact of a golden arrow that hit him in the back. He landed flat on his face, the Somewhat Staff being thrown from his hand and landing on the ground about ten feet away. Vinnia looked around in shock as she tried to register what had just happened. Pit slowly got up and looked around, and to his shock saw a black clad angel holding a Silver Bow walking towards them. Vinnia backed up behind Pit. The Somewhat Staff levitated over to him quickly and forced itself into his hand.

"Let's show this jerk for doing that!" the staff said in rage, "Nobody gets me thrown to the ground!" No one spoke between the four of them as they stared at each other in silence. Then two more characters joined the party, coming in behind the dark clad angel. One was a muscular man holding a large sword-club and wearing dark clothing, while the other was someone hidden inside a costume that Pit very well recognized.

"Magnus… Gaol… Pittoo... what are you doing here?" he asked in shock.


	5. The Dark Triad

Author's Note: This chapter will have somewhat of the same dialogue as the Dark Triad's chapter 5. The story will be told from Pit's perspective in this story.

Chapter 5: The Dark Triad

"Well, well, if it isn't my archrival," said Dark Pit, "And by the way, the name's Dark Pit. I seriously do _not _want to be called Pittoo again." Pit backed up into Vinnia as Dark Pit glared him down.

"Who's the girl?" Dark Pit asked. He didn't wait for a response from Pit and said, "Doesn't matter, I don't care."

"Pit, who is this crazy guy who looks like you?" she asked in a hush.

"Uh… Vinnia, this is Dark Pit," he whispered back, careful not to say Dark Pit's hated nickname, "Be careful not to call him Pittoo, he really hates it. Oh, not Ptooey either. He really hates that one!" Dark Pit must have heard what they said and his glare deepened.

"What did you just call me?" he asked in a growl.

"Get back, he's ready to blow his head off," said Pit in warning. Vinnia stepped back a bit as Pit got ready to raise his weapon, which pulled him into shooting position with a jerk. Dark Pit raised his bow warily. The Somewhat Staff was about to speak but Dark Pit beat him to it.

"Ha, do you seriously think you can take all three of us?" asked Dark Pit. Magnus and Gaol both took a battle ready stance as Dark Pit said this. Pit jumped back in shock that Magnus and Gaol were so ready to fight alongside Dark Pit. The staff saw its chance to speak up.

"Blundering fools!" the staff butted in, "We have an important mission that we're on right now and you guys are just getting in the way!" The Dark Triad jumped back in shock this time, but then Dark Pit stepped forward cockily.

"Well, so are we," said Dark Pit, "And we don't need you morons getting in the way."

"You can just shut your mouth!" the staff yelled back, "Our mission is ten thousand times more important than yours could ever be! Fate has chosen this angel and myself to go on a journey to save the gods who have been kidnapped by an unknown force! So get out of the way, _NOW_!"

Dark Pit seemed to only grow more arrogant and looked Pit dead in the eye, saying, "Heh, old news and a pitiful excuse." Pit and Vinnia backed up again, increasing the short distance between the two parties. Dark Pit knew about the disappearance of the gods?

"How the heck do you know about that?!" the staff said in alarm. Dark Pit continued to grow smugger and said, "I have my methods." Dark Pit didn't wait for them to speak again and charged at them with an arrow ready to fire, which he quickly shot at them. Pit grabbed Vinnia and rolled to the ground. Dark Pit was already charging at them before they hit the ground, ready to kill them in one slash of his bow's melee attack.

Pit retaliated with a block by the Somewhat Staff, thus preventing one of the bow's knives from hitting Vinnia and himself. Then he shot up and they exchanged a few more melee attacks, defending Vinnia from Dark Pit's ferocity using his own. Pit himself was surprised that the staff was doing so well against Dark Pit's weapon, as staves had low melee strength. Pit figured that it was because the staff was alive, which might bring in other special characteristics like higher melee.

Dark Pit retreated a few feet and then charged forward again, raising the knives to strike. Pit blocked again, causing the Somewhat Staff to receive the Silver Bow's strike. The two angels struggled for the upper hand. The two were thrown back from a seemingly equal surge of strength from both of them. Glaring between them ensued.

Magnus and Gaol came up to Dark Pit's sides, ready to help him out with the fight.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Pit yelled, "I can't fight all three of you at once!"

"You're not entirely alone," said Gaol, jumping into the conversation, "You have that girl with you. Based on what we saw at the temple, I'm assuming that that's the demigod who ripped up the floor." Vinnia went pale.

"Demigod?!" she cried, "What are you talking about?"

"Ah," said Magnus, "So it appears that she doesn't know her own heritage."

"So, Magnus and Gaol," Pit started, trying to avert the subject of the conversation from the whole demigod thing, "Why are you with Dark Pit?"

"Simple really," said Magnus, "It's a matter of money."

"Mercenary work?" asked Pit.

"None of your business," Gaol intruded.

"I'm just saying, Pittoo is quite independent minded and…" Pit didn't finish his statement due to Dark Pit moving at lightning speed, spanning the gap between him and Pit within less the second, and punching Pit square in the jaw. Pit was thrown in the air and landed on his back with a pain in his lower jaw. As Pit was picking himself up, he stared at Dark Pit wide-eyed; his twin's wings were glowing slightly purple as he landed on the ground.

"H-how can you still fly?" asked Pit in shock, "I thought that your power of flight died with Pandora." Dark Pit smirked with a prideful grin.

"I've still got a little bit left over," said Dark Pit tauntingly, "It may not be much but it's more than what you've got right now." Pit lost control and shot a charge shot at Dark Pit, which Magnus slammed to the ground due to the short distance between him and Dark Pit. The bolt exploded and everyone jumped back.

Dark Pit immediately boosted himself upward using his power of flight and shot a large charged arrow straight down at Pit. To everyone's surprise, Vinnia summoned one of her vines and blocked the shot, thus destroying the vine and the shot entirely. Dark Pit landed and looked straight into Vinnia's eyes. Pit saw a look in Dark Pit's eyes, and knew straight off that he knew for sure that Vinnia was half god, half human.

"The girl's mine," said Gaol as she stepped forward to confront Vinnia. Gaol fired a massive energy blast at Vinnia, which she blocked with a few more vines. Pit tried to intervene with the two of them, but he was attacked by Magnus and Dark Pit before he could, and forced to defend himself from their hard hitting melee attacks. Dark Pit used quick range shots while Magnus came in close with surprisingly fast strikes with his large and heavy weapon. Pit, though on the defensive, took the opportunity attack whenever he got the chance.

As strikes continued to come in on Pit, Pit felt his stamina draining and his arm tiring. Dark Pit continued to ruthlessly shoot bolts at him and he continued to block, but he couldn't hold on much longer. Magnus suddenly managed to get a hit in on him and he flew at least fifteen feet. That wasn't far enough for Dark Pit to not hit him and he was struck by another long range golden arrow.

Pit struggled to get up as Dark Pit and Magnus stopped to catch their breath. Gaol was beating down on Vinnia and had knocked her out by the time Magnus and Dark Pit arrived at her side a few seconds later. Magnus kicked Vinnia off to the side over by Pit. Pit was able to barely sit up and see them getting into a certain formation where Gaol was the farthest and charging a ball of energy, Magnus seeming to be the target. Gaol fired the ball of energy at Magnus, who grabbed it with his club-sword and swung the weapon towards Dark Pit, who Pit realized was getting ready to use an air battle special attack. He suddenly understood what was going on and jumped to his feet, though pained. Dark Pit unleashed his special attack as soon as the ball hit.

The blast was fired at Pit and Vinnia and Pit shut his eyes and swung the staff just as the bolt was reaching them. An enormous wave of energy flew through his laurel crown and he felt the energy that had been fired get pushed away from him and towards the sky. He opened his eyes and saw the arrows from Dark Pit's special attack get thrown in all directions. Dark Pit was struck with the energy and Pit watched him get thrown to the ground fifty feet away, his Silver Bow being broken as Dark Pit was hit and landing in three pieces nearby Dark Pit as he made impact with the ground. The arrows were flung towards the two humans and they were KOd as well, falling to the ground in defeat and unconsciousness.

Pit looked upon the aftermath in amazement. The staff he had been holding had tripled in length and was enveloped in a transparent pink light, which gave it the quality of a twelve foot long blade with the same weight as the Somewhat Staff. Pit was amazed. Even the Somewhat Staff seemed amazed, as was obvious when it said, "What in the world just happened to me?"

"I don't know either," said Pit, "It's like you transformed or something."

"Ah, perhaps fate has unlocked one of my special abilities," said the Somewhat Staff, "It appears as though my melee strength has increased." Pit dropped the conversation and walked over to Vinnia's unconscious body. She didn't seem like she was going to be waking up anytime soon. Pit looked over at Magnus, Dark Pit, and Gaol, who were lying on the ground, entirely unconscious. Dark Pit's outfit was scorched beyond belief and all that was left of it was a jumpsuit underneath, and that even was kind of burned. Magnus's outfit was torn in places and Gaol's helmet had been knocked off. Pit couldn't stand to leave them there, but he didn't know what means he could do so.

Perhaps by a twist of fate, a caravan of traders appeared on the horizon of the almost set sun and arrived at Pit's location within minutes of him spotting them. The leader stepped down out of his carriage. He wore very embroidered clothing, signifying his wealth.

"What has happened here?" he asked, "Did you hurt them?"

"They attacked my friend and I and I had to defend," said Pit in as true of a statement he could muster, "Can you help get us to Vagrant City? They're going to need medical attention."

"Should they be arrested?" asked the trader. Pit mulled this over in inspired thought, but he decided against stating something that would get them in trouble.

"No," said Pit, "It was a simple mistake." The trader nodded.

"I will help you then," he said. And so, he and Pit loaded up the unconscious people into some of the carriages and they were off to Vagrant City, just to the north.


	6. An Unlikely Hint

Chapter 6: An Unlikely Hint

Pit watched Vinnia's chest heave up and down as he sat waiting for her to awaken from unconsciousness. The trader's caravan had brought them into Vagrant City and dropped them off at the hospital, which was really just a dumpy old two story building. It was clean on the inside to say the least, but it was a pretty ramshackle place. The whole town it seemed was quite run down.

Pit had been sitting there for at least eighteen hours waiting for her to wake up. One of the two doctors that worked on healing people in the town told him that she would be unconscious for a while the previous night. Dark Pit, Magnus and Gaol on the other hand would probably be in a coma for a little bit longer.

Vinnia twitched and Pit caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. He jumped to his feet and ran over to her bed. Her eyes shot open as he arrived at her side.

"Vinnia!" he cried, "Are you alright?" Vinnia sat up and then lied back down in pain.

"No, I'm not alright," she groaned, "Where am I?" The doctor came in.

"Ah, so you're awake," he said, "You were out for quite a long while."

"A… hospital?" she said weakly.

"Yeah," said Pit, "You got beaten pretty badly."

"Can you let us talk in private?" asked Vinnia. The doctor nodded and left the room again. Vinnia looked up at Pit.

"I almost went insane again back there," she said, "That person was really tough."

"Gaol's no slouch," said Pit.

"What were they talking about?" asked Vinnia, "About demigods? I thought I was just gifted but… now people are saying I'm half god?" Pit did his best to conceal his knowledge of her heritage.

"I zoned out when they said that," said Pit, "I don't know much about it."

"Pit, be straight with me; am I half god or not?" asked Vinnia. Pit saw himself in a corner.

"Go on and answer," said Vinnia impatience growing in her voice, "I'm not going to be offended." Pit still hesitated with words.

"Fine then," said Vinnia crossly, folding her arms under the blanket, "I'll figure it out myself." Pit caught his breath. Then he suddenly clutched the Somewhat Staff instinctively.

"Dark Pit must be half-awake now," said Pit, "We're going to have to leave ASAP." Vinnia sat up again, this time not hurting as much.

"Fine," she said, "I can move now. But I'm only following you because I don't want to go up against those creeps again."

"Creeps is right," the staff muttered. It had returned to its original state from its altered state, but now possessed the strength to move between each form. Pit helped Vinnia up and they ran into the doctor on the way out.

"Leaving so soon?" he asked.

"We have to go," said Pit.

"Okay…" said the doctor, "Are you sure…"

"Yes," said Pit, feeling another surge of his and Dark Pit's "twin power" hitting him. The other angel would awaken soon. He pulled Vinnia down the stairs and out of the hospital and the two of them walked towards the marketplace without hesitation.

* * *

The two of them combined money to get themselves lunch for a week. The hunger pangs they were feeling after the previous day's battles were enormous and they didn't want that happening again. Vinnia also bought them a leather sack to put their stuff in, including the Somewhat Staff, which stuck up out of the top.

"Ah, this is so much better than being held," said the Somewhat Staff from behind Pit, who was now wearing the sack like a backpack.

"Glad you like it," said Pit as they walked out of the marketplace and towards the town exit, eating their sandwiches as they went. Before they reached the gates, a cry rang out from back at the marketplace. Pit and Vinnia turned, having been startled by the cry and they spotted a group of bandits attacking the merchants. Pit immediately grabbed the Somewhat Staff from its place in the sack and dashed back to the marketplace. Vinnia looked on in shock before running after him.

Pit shot at the ground in the middle of them and the bandits scattered in surprise. Three of them charged at Pit but he swept them away with the staff's new melee maneuver, which immediately wore off and also took a chunk out of Pit's stamina. Pit almost fell over but he managed to stay up and knocked back another bandit that had charged at him. Then the largest one of them walked up to him and stood five feet away.

"You're an angel huh?" he said, "Doesn't mean I can't kill you. Boys, let me take care of this one. Get out of town now!" The other bandits grabbed their bags and left the scene while Pit and the bandit who had stayed, clearly the leader, squared off. They struck with a few melee attacks which Pit found surprisingly hard to avoid. They seemed to blow him off of his balance. He couldn't seem to activate the melee power again either. Perhaps it was limited.

The bandit swung his sword again and Pit jumped back, suddenly feeling a breeze of wind strike him in the face as the sword reached the top of its swing.

"_A wind sword_?" Pit thought to himself. He was about to raise the Somewhat Staff and fire, but the sword seemed to go against what the bandit wanted. It was pointing behind Pit, not at Vinnia, who had been watching from a nearby alleyway, but to the northeast. The bandit pulled the sword back to his ready stance and grunted in annoyance. He clearly didn't expect his sword to start moving on its own.

The bandit prepared to swing again. Pit however was thinking about the sword and what it capabilities that it had just shown off. It definitely possessed some sort of wind power. Did it have some connection to Zephynn? If that was the case, Pit needed to get out of there fast. Before the sword could hit him, he jumped back, turned his tail and ran, grabbing Vinnia by the arm as he passed by her hiding place. They ran through the gates and out of sight. The bandit was confused but he immediately left the scene so that he would not be arrested.

* * *

Pit ran holding onto Vinnia until he was sure the bandit wouldn't come after them. Then he stopped so that they could catch their breath. Vinnia immediately yelled at him.

"What was that all about?!" she cried, "I'm still aching you know!"

"Sorry, but I think I just found a hint to Zephynn's location," said Pit as he put the staff back in the sack.

"And what might that be?" asked Vinnia, crossing her arms, clearly not enthusiastic about hearing about Zephynn again.

"That sword the bandit had," said Pit, "It had wind powers. And it pointed to the northeast. I think that might be where he's being held." Vinnia seemed confused, but then she seemed to come to a sudden realization.

"Hold on," said Vinnia. She closed her eyes.

"What?" asked Pit. Vinnia didn't respond. She opened her eyes again suddenly.

"You're right," she said, with a subtle hint of displeasure in her voice, "That's the way the wind is telling me to go. So maybe I play a big part in this mission of yours." Pit nodded as the two of them turned to the northeast.

"Fate is making things very interesting," said the staff in amusement. For once, no one complained about the staff's fate antics and they walked in a northeasterly direction.


	7. The Metal Hill

Chapter 7: The Metal Hill

"It doesn't make any sense!" Vinnia cried as they came back to where they started for about the millionth time. Pit was confused as well. According to Vinnia, the winds told them to stop at one particular spot, but that spot was an empty spot on the top of one of the hills on the plain they had been travelling on. They had been walking around the hill, looking for any sort of suspicious place on it. Unfortunately, they had been walking around for pretty much the rest of the day and the sun was setting on them. As such they decided to make camp for the night.

They decided against making a fire, mostly because they didn't want anybody finding and attacking them, but partially because…

"I really don't like fire," Vinnia confessed, ending the argument over how they would see after dark. Pit just stared for a few seconds, nodded in understanding, and sat down on the light grass. Vinnia waited a little bit before joining him on the ground. Pit looked to the sky while Vinnia just stared into space. Neither of them had any ideas for a conversation. The Somewhat Staff fixed that very quickly.

"Are you two alright?" it asked suddenly, "You seem down." They both looked over at the staff which was sticking out of the sack.

"Well, my mother always said, 'talking to others is the greatest remedy for depression,'" said the staff. Pit and Vinnia looked at each other and then looked back at the staff in disbelief.

"You… had a mother?" Pit asked in disbelief.

"Well, not particularly," said the staff, "I have a spirit. I'm sure you're aware that most underworld monsters are made from souls. I am likewise. I am a Somewhat Staff with a soul that used to belong to a human body. As such, I did as a matter of fact have a mother. I might not remember much, but I know I did."

"So you're saying that you could have gone into any weapon?" asked Pit.

"No," said the staff, "Only into something that had any sort of life within it. Otherwise I would have died instantly."

"Is that why you have all of these special powers?" asked Vinnia.

"No, I don't know why that is so," said the staff, "Even I don't know all of the mysteries that surround my being. Those are for us to discover together." Silence followed those words, broken by Vinnia about five minutes later.

"Is there a reason you're concealing the truth from me?" she asked Pit. Pit nodded.

"If you knew it could be dangerous," said Pit.

"So I am a demigod," said Vinnia. Pit tried to find a way around it, but he couldn't. Then the staff jumped in, realizing that Pit was in a corner.

"Fate will tell you the truth in time," said the staff, "Perhaps it's not for you to know now." Vinnia glared at the staff but then dropped the subject, going onto an entirely different conversation.

"Anyways, what I was trying to get at was… I'm sorry for the way I've acted for the last few days," said Vinnia, "I really haven't been myself."

"That's alright," said Pit, "Perhaps I should have just let you fight in that battle. You might have released some stress." _Then again_, Pit thought, _doing_ _that might have made her insanity come quicker_. Vinnia smiled softly in the darkness.

"I don't know why," she said, "I just don't like Zephynn at all. It's like he sets something off inside of me. I don't understand what."

"Maybe your fates are connected," the staff mused. Vinnia rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she said, leaning back against the hill. She went farther back than she would have liked and hit her head lightly on the ground on the hillside. What she felt was not expected. Her head hurt as she brought it up and she cried out in pain.

"That hurt…" she said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Still sore?" asked Pit.

"No," said Vinnia, turning around to look at the hillside, "I don't think this is grass…" She closed her eyes again and saw something that Pit couldn't. It was somewhat like a thermal map of the hilly plains and it was covered in blue from one end to the other. The place where they were at however was red. Vinnia opened her eyes immediately, understanding exactly what the map was saying.

"This isn't grass at all!" she exclaimed. She knocked on the hillside and it made a metallic banging sound.

"It's metal!" Pit exclaimed in surprise, jumping up from where he had been sitting. He quickly picked up the sack that held their supplies and slung it over his shoulder.

"There's gotta be an entrance to the inside somewhere around here," said Pit, "The only reason anyone would want to build a metal hill is to hide something."

"Or to get rid of boredom…" the staff said thoughtfully.

"No, I'm pretty sure they'd want to hide something," said Pit. The knocked on the hill all the way around in every place possible, but they couldn't pinpoint an entrance. Pit then tried blasting the metal with the staff's charge shots. As you can imagine, that didn't go so well. The shots were deflected back at them every time and one almost hit Pit himself.

Finally, after about ten minutes of searching Vinnia found a small button in the top of the hill after pushing aside a patch of fake grass with her foot.

"Hey Pit!" she called, "Come look at this!" Pit ran up the hill as quick as possible and observed the button.

"Do you think that's our way in?" asked Pit.

"Absolutely," said Vinnia concisely. She stepped on it and the whole hill started to rumble. Out of nowhere, the top of the hill collapsed inward and the two of them fell into darkness below.

* * *

Vinnia landed on top of Pit when they came to the bottom of the drop. Pit of course, gave an unsatisfied scream of pain.

"Watch where you're landing!" he yelled.

"Sorry!" Vinnia cried, "My bad!" She stood up and helped Pit up and they observed their surroundings.

"Where are we?" asked Pit.

"Inside the hill," said Vinnia, "Duh."

"Right," said Pit, "But where exactly inside the hill?"

"Let's not complicate things," said Vinnia as she took a few steps forward into the darkness. Immediately, the room lit up and a voice rang through it.

"Freeze where you are or prepare to die!" it said.

Vinnia backed up and a laser fired at her feet.

"That was a warning," said the voice, "Next time it'll be straight in the head." Vinnia froze as Pit observed the room.

"You see anything?" Pit asked the staff in a hush.

"I definitely feel something powerful emanating from somewhere in the room," the staff whispered back, "Perhaps it is Zephynn."

"No, I mean the attacker," said Pit.

"No trace," said the staff. He was cut off by another laser that was fired at them. Pit rolled out of the way. Suddenly, many more lasers began bombarding them. Pit grabbed Vinnia and ducked behind a statue towards the right side of the room. The lasers stopped.

"Where is Zephynn?" Pit asked the staff.

"Help!" a voice cried from towards the top of the room. Pit and Vinnia quickly looked towards the top of the room. Up there was a cage and within that cage was none other than Zephynn. Then the lasers started firing again.


	8. Zephynn's Rescue

Chapter 8: Zephynn's Rescue

Pit dodged around the lasers and began trying to approach Zephynn's cage. He was pushed back by the lasers however and ended up taking refuge back by Vinnia.

"I can't get close!" he said in frustration.

"We need a diversion!" said Vinnia. Another laser hit behind them.

"They're firing at random!" the staff yelled, "I don't think a diversion is going to help!"

"Zephynn!" Pit yelled, "Can you knock the laser guns off balance from where you are?"

"The cage is wind oppressive!" he yelled back over the laser fire, "I can't use my powers!" Pit cursed under his breath as another laser hit between him and Vinnia.

"Maybe we can get the cage off of where it's hanging," said Pit, "Do you think you can do that?"

"Maybe," said Vinnia slowly bringing a vine out of the ground. It was shot in half immediately and fell dead to the ground.

"Shoot!" she yelled. Their hiding spot was shot and exploded in a million pieces of stone. Vinnia and Pit sought cover behind the next nearest statue as a result. That one was quickly destroyed as well. Out of the corner of his eye, as they were running towards the other side of the room, dodging lasers, Pit saw that the cage was being held by a chain that he could very well break if it was weakened. He also noticed that the statues looked as though they were made to resemble a god of some sort.

"_Who could that be?_" Pit questioned in his mind. He pushed that thought aside as he and Vinnia hid behind the next statue, the third of the four in the room.

"We need to get up to the top of the cage somehow and get the lasers to cut through the chain," said Pit.

"How are we going to do that?" Vinnia asked, another laser flying directly over their heads from the other corner of the room. It missed Pit's wings by inches.

"It's times like these where I wish I could fly!" Pit said in frustration. Out of nowhere, his wings glowed blue for a split second and then faded. Then they glowed blue again, but this time, they stayed.

"Lady… Palutena?" he said in disbelief. He wasted no time flying up to Zephynn's cage. As he landed, he felt the short-lived Power of Flight leave him.

Just as he had planned just about a minute before, a laser flew up and struck the chain. It weakened ever so slightly. Another laser hit, and then another. Finally, it seemed weak enough so that Pit could strike it with the staff and cause the cage to fall. He hit the chain with melee attacks left and right, but it wouldn't break. Lasers continued to fire upwards but none now seemed to have enough luck to hit the chain.

Pit got a crazy idea. He shut his eyes tightly and began channeling his energy to the staff. He focused it the greatest he possibly could. Then he brought the staff back, maintaining the energy flow from himself to the staff, and swung. He opened his eyes at the last second and saw that the staff was glowing pink. He caught a glimpse of the impact site where the staff was hitting. Bulls-eye. The chain snapped and the cage fell to the ground, breaking open and freeing Zephynn. The lasers however, did not stop.

Pit, despite fatigue from using the powerful attack yet again, pulled Zephynn, who seemed startled, back behind the statue where Vinnia was still hiding.

"Why you insolent fools!" the voice that had stopped earlier yelled, "How dare you? You've freed your friend from _me_?"

"Who are you?" Pit called back, "I demand an answer!"

"That is none of your business!" the voice yelled in response, "I will grant you a mercy for now. You have ten seconds to get out of my base or I'll turn on the homing feature. Starting… NOW!" The voice began counting down from ten. Pit was too tired from the melee attack and carrying Zephynn, who had fainted out of panic, and he fell to the ground.

"Take Zephynn… and get out!" Pit told Vinnia tiredly as the voice reached seven.

"You're both coming with me whether you like it or not!" Vinnia yelled. She turned her head to the ceiling as it reached five.

"Hey, you!" she yelled, "Stop the countdown or I'll slug you!"

"Ha!" the voice yelled, "You can't even see me! How can you possibly slug me?"

"I can try," said Vinnia, as she picked up both boys and began walking towards the exit, sure that whoever was talking could not see her doing it. She just ensured that she was still facing the ceiling so she could yell and keep the guy from moving on.

"You really would have the nerve to slug me?" the voice asked mockingly, "You wouldn't get far with that little girl. After all, I am…"

"See ya later sucker!" Vinnia yelled from where she and Pit had quite literally dropped in. She summoned vines to carry her up and they appeared quite quickly. Before the voice could scream and yell about being tricked, they were being pulled out of the base at rapid speed.

* * *

When Pit opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in a cocoon of vines; literally, he was surrounded in vines. Vinnia was standing over him.

"About time," she said, "You've been out since eight last night." Pit sat up and looked around. It was a cocoon of vines alright; more like an igloo actually. Zephynn was sitting against the wall in a scrunched up shape. He didn't seem to want to talk.

"Where am I?" asked Pit as he shook off his daze.

"We're in a low point of the hilly field," said Vinnia, "I carried you as far as I could and then put this up so that we could all sleep. I couldn't though, so I watched over you two."

"When did you wake up?" Pit asked Zephynn.

"Why does it matter?" Zephynn mumbled in response. It seemed clear that he was still pretty tired and didn't wish to be talking to anyone so Pit left him alone.

"I thought you said you couldn't fly," said the staff from the sack next to Pit.

"I can't without Lady Palutena's help," said Pit, "Which means… Lady Palutena must have gotten through somehow! Maybe she's escaped!"

"I don't think that is the case," said the staff, "While it's true that she might have been able to briefly give you the ability to fly, she would have likely already spoken to you had she been freed. You can even try contacting her; I doubt highly that it will work." Pit didn't even try.

"I'd like to know exactly who that person was back there that was talking to us," said Vinnia, changing the course of the conversation.

"Someone who really likes lasers," said Pit.

"Oh please," said Vinnia, "That could be anyone. Though I am curious as to how they were able to get a hold of such a thing. Isn't that kind of… futuristic?"

"Perhaps," said Pit, "Maybe it was a deity."

"I wouldn't think so," said Vinnia, "Remember, your quest is to free all of the deities. I wouldn't think any are loose."

"So not a deity, but someone with powers like that," said Pit.

"Perhaps," said Vinnia, "There are those who have special powers, like myself…" She seemed to eye Pit in suspicion, likely in hopes of getting an answer out of him. After he didn't respond, she continued.

"…that weren't captured due to their non-deitiness," she finished. Zephynn suddenly spoke up.

"I believe I know who we might have faced back there," he said, "You're right when you say it was someone under a deity. I sensed a dark, dark presence from somewhere deeper in that base. Had we gone deeper, I'm sure we would have found what it was."

"Had we gone deeper, we would have been killed," said Vinnia, "You two were in no condition to fight."

"What I'm trying to say is… I believe that we just went against an imprisoned Underworlder," Zephynn finished.


	9. The Wind Demigod's History

Chapter 9: The Wind Demigod's History

Zephynn was in no condition to travel the next day. He seemed too traumatized from the events of past few days to move. As such, the three of them remained in the same igloo of vines for the entire day. Vinnia stayed as far from the wind demigod as possible, and Pit was able to tell that she still had a conservative animosity towards him.

"Why is it that he bugs you so much?" asked Pit, "I'd think that you would have dropped it by now."

"I don't know," said Vinnia, "I already said that there's something about him that just annoys me. It's not just his attitude."

"Do you think there's some weird connection between you two?" asked Pit.

"Didn't we already have this conversation?" Vinnia asked.

"Well, last time it didn't end well," said Pit, "I want to make sure that you aren't mad at me for supporting Zephynn anymore."

"Let's just end this now," said Vinnia, "I don't want to get mad again."

"You won't," said Pit, "Well, you see…"

"What?" asked Vinnia, her eyes shining.

"Uh…" said Pit. Vinnia frowned.

"Well, say it," said Vinnia flatly. Pit hesitated a little more, but again, the staff saved his butt.

"You're Viridi's daughter," the staff suddenly stated.

"I knew it!" Vinnia exclaimed, smacking a fist into her hand, "Why didn't you tell me in the first place?"

"I was afraid you would overuse your power," said Pit.

"Like that's going to happen," said Vinnia, "You can trust me."

"Then it all makes sense," said Zephynn from the other side of the vine igloo. All eyes turned on him.

"What do you mean?" Pit asked. Zephynn closed his eyes and breathed in the cool air. Then he opened them again.

"My mother, Phyra, goddess of the West Wind, along with her siblings, Boreas of the North, Europa of the East, and Norulus of the South, were created by Viridi to govern the four winds," said Zephynn, "My mother tends to be a bit… territorial. She doesn't like being bossed around and likes being boss. As such, she and Viridi don't get along very well."

"You're right," said Pit, "That does say a lot." Vinnia nodded in agreement, then stood up and stretched before walking towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" asked Pit.

"I need air," said Vinnia. She walked outside, leaving Pit and Zephynn alone in the igloo with the staff. Seeing as how Zephynn hadn't eaten anything yet, Pit offered him one of the lunches.

"You hungry?" he asked.

"No," said Zephynn plainly. He was still curled up as though he was cold. Pit could tell that he had really been through more than he had ever handled before. Pit decided to continue trying to speak to him.

"How did you learn that you were a demigod in the first place," said Pit. Zephynn didn't respond for a few minutes and the question hung in the air. Then he spoke.

"I'm one of very few of us in the world whose godly parent actually cares," said Zephynn, "My mother led me away from my hometown when I was very young and I've lived in the temple ever since. End of story."

"That's your life?" asked Pit.

"Pretty much," said Zephynn, "I don't mind though. I've never really been in contact with people so…"

"So that temple was abandoned when you got there," said Pit in confusion, "Has it always been that way."

"Perhaps that's why my mother summoned me," said Zephynn, "She was lonely and wanted her child closer to her."

"Hasn't it made you lonely though?" asked Pit. Zephynn took a moment to consider the thought.

"I hadn't thought of that," said Zephynn.

"Then come with us," said Pit, "Maybe you just need to see the world and come out of your shell."

"Maybe…" said Zephynn quietly. Vinnia entered the igloo of vines abruptly.

"Dark clouds are gathering," she said, "We have to get going."

* * *

The three of them hit the road early the next day, after Pit insisted that Zephynn still needed rest. Vinnia seemed reluctant at the hesitant leaving but Pit got his way as the unofficial leader of the group. Zephynn appreciated the rest of the day for rest and was back on his feet the next day when they got ready to go. They left at sunrise and hurried on their way towards the north, which, according to Vinnia, was the way the winds were pointing them.

The plain faded into a wasteland, which Vinnia apparently was not too jazzed about traveling across, likely due to her roots in Viridi. Grasses were withered and dead trees sprouted out of the ground everywhere. Even to Pit it was almost ominous. Zephynn, however, seemed to be right at home. Pit figured that this was due to the fact that his mother was one of the scorching wind gods, rather than the cooling. Perhaps she had done this to the land they were travelling through at one point in time.

Within hours, there was a town in view. The sun was high above the travelers as they approached the town in the distance.

"Well, that was fast," said Pit, "We're travelling quickly."

"I don't know," said Vinnia, "We're still pretty far off at the pace we're going."

"She's right," said Zephynn, "It'll take a few hours before we get there."

"Be careful," said the Somewhat Staff, "I think we're being watched again." Pit grabbed it out of the sack and readied to fire.

"Where are they?" he asked fiercely.

"Far off," said the staff, "But close enough for me to sense."

"Is it Dark Pit again?" asked Pit, "I still don't understand why that guy has such a grudge against me…"

"Yes, but as I said, they are quite far off," said the staff, "They won't be against us for a little while."

"I don't like the sound of that," said Vinnia, her nerves catching up to her.

"Who's Dark Pit?" asked Zephynn.

"I'll explain on the way," said Pit, "It's a long story." With that, the sun overhead them, they began walking towards the town in the distance. And they were all too absorbed in Pit's story to notice that there were very, very dark clouds following them, ready to swallow up the light that led them at any second.


	10. Aria of Pallitia Town

Chapter 10: Aria of Pallitia Town

The sun had set by the time the three travelers hit the town. It was too far off for Vinnia to know the name of it as they entered, but a passerby told them that it was known as Pallitia Town, a "quaint place in the middle of nowhere." It sure seemed like it. The town was in the middle of a wasteland and there was nothing all around except for dead things. Surprisingly, it was quite nice and spacey.

The three of them unanimously decided that they would stay in the town for the night and continue on their way the next morning. As such, they found the nearest hotel, checked in, and went to sleep, surprisingly without trouble.

The next morning, Zephynn was the first one up and was staring out the window when Pit awoke to find him looking at the sky. Vinnia was still snoring. Pit walked over in his usual sleeping attire, a sky blue shirt and a pair of pants, which made him look like a normal human boy minus the wings.

"What are you looking at?" asked Pit as he walked up to Zephynn's side.

"Nothing," said Zephynn, "Just thinking about what's been going on."

"Everything's fine now," said Pit, "Just so long as you and Vinnia don't kill each other on the way, we can all look for the gods and free them together. Then maybe we'll find your mom."

"I suppose your right," said Zephynn with a sigh, "But I've been thinking about what you said about me being lonely yesterday. Now that I look at it, it's true; I'd never communicated with anyone until you two came along. It was just my mother and I. I'm surprised I never noticed."

"Well, when your mother is a goddess, I wouldn't be surprised," said Pit, "She can do pretty much anything within her power." Zephynn nodded in agreement.

"You know, how old are you anyways?" asked Pit. Zephynn stared at him.

"Do you really want to know?" asked Zephynn, "You might not like the answer." Pit suddenly felt a sense of dread creeping up from inside of him.

"Go ahead," said Pit, though anxiously.

"I'm 499," said Zephynn sincerely. Pit almost fell backwards.

"You're kidding right?" Pit asked, jumping back in shock. He, being an angel and having natural immortality, was pretty ancient too, but coming from a demigod… the number just sounded insane.

"I'm not kidding," said Zephynn solemnly, "When my mother brought me to her, she let me age for about thirteen or fourteen years, and then gave me immortality against my will."

"She was that lonely?" Pit asked, unable to fathom why Phyra would do such a thing.

"I don't blame her," said Zephynn, "One man caught her eye, and he was my father, 499 years ago. He was the one visitor to her temple, and he came all the time. After I was born… he took care of me for a little bit before Phyra abducted me. It was because he didn't visit her anymore. It was my fault…"

"Nah, it's not your fault," said Pit, "The thing that really shocks me is how old Viridi is. And I've seen Viridi. She looks like she could be sixteen!"

"The gods have been around long before us," said Zephynn, "You as an angel should know that better than both of us."

"I do indeed," said Pit. A horn suddenly rang through the air and Vinnia got up behind them.

"What was that?" she asked groggily as she sat up, seeming still half-asleep. Pit quickly donned his tunic, which automatically appeared on his body by magic.

"Let's go find out," he said.

* * *

Within the next twenty minutes, they had eaten breakfast, the two demigods had dressed, and they were all headed out the door of the hotel, using what was left of their money to pay the bill. As they stepped outside, a large crowd of people were bowing to the road.

"What's going on?" Pit asked a villager nearby.

"Bow for the Duke!" the villager hissed in reply. A carriage embroidered in gold pulled by white horses rolled through the street. Upon the carriage were a man in regal robes and a girl of about sixteen years. They bore a striking resemblance in their powerful stares and had to be father and daughter.

All three of them did what the villager had told them and bowed for the two carriage riders. It was odd, but Pit felt as though he had bowed to these people all of his life, particularly the girl. Pit sneaked a glance at the people around him, who were still bowing. Then he noticed that the carriage had stopped. He stood up and saw that the girl was staring at him in surprise. She whispered something into her father's ear and her father nodded, pointing at one of the drivers of the carriage.

The driver jumped off of the carriage and suddenly walked right up to the three of them and picked them up, carrying them to the carriage and throwing them in the back. Then the carriage began moving again, with the three travelers in tow, unsure as to what was going on.

* * *

Pit, Vinnia, and Zephynn were unloaded in front of a large manor at the top of the hill that the village was built on. The drivers escorted them towards the gates and they opened, allowing for entry into the wide front yard of the manor.

They were further pushed along towards the manor house in front of them and when they reached the entrance, all three were shoved inside. After this, no one harassed them about where to go and they found themselves in a large foyer. The girl they had seen not ten minutes before was standing at a door at the other end of the foyer. She walked forward towards them and when she came within speaking distance, she addressed Pit.

"You are an angel correct?" she asked.

"Uh… yeah, but…" Pit was cut off.

"Come with me," she said, taking his hand, "We must speak in private." Vinnia and Zephynn seemed shocked that she ignored them as she escorted Pit towards the door she had been waiting in front of. As soon as the two of them were through the door the demigods looked at each other.

"Why were we even brought here?" Vinnia asked, appalled at the girl's behavior.

"I don't know," said Zephynn, "Maybe she noticed that we were a group?" Vinnia shook her head and crossed her arms, walking around the foyer in frustration. All over were famous paintings that likely couldn't be found elsewhere and expensive potteries sitting on wooden tables pushed against every wall of the room. Very clearly, this family was very rich.

"Who does she think she is?" Vinnia asked aloud, "I'm the child of a goddess! I deserve a little more respect!"

"Yeah, you are," said Zephynn, "But she doesn't know that."

"Maybe she should know…" Vinnia started as she began to approach the door at the end of the foyer.

"She doesn't need to know anything," said Zephynn, cutting her off, "Let's not get people after us for being who we are shall we?" Vinnia rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you say Mr. I'm-five-hundred-years-old," said Vinnia, barely able to contain the laughter inside of her.

"You heard that?" Zephynn asked, blushing in embarrassment.

"Yeah," said Vinnia, slapping a hand on his shoulder, "But don't worry about it. I personally think that's pretty cool." Zephynn smiled.

"I guess you're right… in a way," he said. They continued to talk about demigod business, not knowing what was going on in the room next to them.

* * *

Pit was forced into a seat at one end of a semi-long table about fifteen feet in length. The girl sat on the other side. In this room, Pit could see her features clearly. She had stunning brown eyes and chocolate colored hair, though when she sat down and the light from outside streamed through the window, it appeared to be a subtle shade of very dark green; Pit couldn't decide which color it was. Around her neck was a necklace with a cobalt gem on it. Her dress was cream-colored with a green trim and she wore a belt around the waist. Strapped onto that belt, much to Pit's surprise, were a pair of sharp knives.

"I must discuss matters of utmost importance with you," said the girl, "My name is Aria, and I am the maiden who is destined to take power in Pallitia Town when my father passes."

"If this is some marriage proposal, it's going to have to wait," said Pit, "I'm kind of busy with a mission and stuff so…"

"I understand," said Aria, "I will see to it that I have you in and out of here as quickly as possible." Then she looked at him funny and said, "And no, this is not a marriage proposal."

"Then what did you drag me in here for?" asked Pit. Aria shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I have been having dreams lately," she said, "Dreams where two presences are fighting over my being; a light one and a dark one. I have reason to believe that your showing up here signifies that my dreams are visions of the future and that you are the light presence as a white angel."

"So you think a dark presence and I will fight over you in the future?" asked Pit, before understanding what she was trying to say. "Or Dark Pit and me," he said quietly to himself.

"That is part of it," said Aria, "The other part was unclear to me. I saw that the dark presence overcoming the light and that I was abducted. I didn't understand why darkness would win. But perhaps that is something that was simply part of my dream world. It intrigues me, though, that it might be a vision of the future, so I would like to ask if I could come with you on whatever travels you are on to see if it is so."

"Of course!" Pit exclaimed, "But if this is a vision of the future, wouldn't Dark P… I mean; the dark presence beat me and you get kidnapped?"

"As I said, it may be a simple dream, but I have reasons to believe otherwise," said Aria sincerely, "Reasons that I cannot share with anyone else. Now we must go. My father will understand. I'm sure your friends won't mind?"

"I wouldn't think so," said the Pit, "But you'll have to know that you're also travelling with…"

"Me of course!" the staff cut in from the pack on Pit's back. Aria didn't even flinch.

"I see," she said, "Very well then. I will travel with you, your friends and this… talking staff."

"Okay," said Pit, "We'll be happy to have you along!" On the inside, Pit was wondering multiple things, the foremost being, how could she see the staff? He understood how Vinnia and Zephynn could see it, but some others he didn't quite get. Magnus for example was definitely able to see angelic weapons; he was born with the skill as far as Pit knew. Or maybe perhaps he and Gaol had come into contact with such godly powers before and came to be able to see them. And perhaps Aria was the same way.

Among other things, he was also contemplating why exactly he was so quick to agree with her. There was some aura of power surrounding her that Pit recognized, but couldn't remember. Perhaps he would find out in time; that is, if the future according to Aria's dreams was changed.

The two of them exited the room to find that Vinnia and Zephynn were chatting like old friends in the foyer. They immediately shut up when Aria walked in. Aria looked over at Pit as though expecting him to speak.

"Uh… this is Aria, and she'll be coming with us," said Pit, suddenly flustered. Vinnia crossed her arms.

"So that's your name," said Vinnia, "You seem to be too stuck up to talk to us. What do you take us for?"

"I apologize if that is how you feel," said Aria respectfully, "I have been taught the ways of a duchess and as such, I am not used to speaking to anyone aside from my father and a select few of the soldiers around here." Zephynn suddenly backed up behind Vinnia, and Pit guessed that he had noticed the knives on Aria's belt.

"What might your names be?" asked Aria. Vinnia mouthed the words, 'You didn't have the decency to mention us in there?' She didn't wait for Pit to answer but Pit got the message.

"I am Vinnia and this is Zephynn," said Vinnia. Zephynn backed up a little further.

"Are those knives… real?" asked Zephynn.

"They're for defense, so yes," said Aria, "My father has made sure that I can fight so that if I am ever attacked I have a way to defend myself. I know archery as well. Would you like to see our range?" Vinnia seemed a bit hesitant but Aria just took their silence as a yes.

"Good," she said, "Perhaps you can learn as well, and we can set out tomorrow morning." And so they were again forcibly ushered to another location, somewhat annoyed at Aria's pushiness, but unaware that her joining them would cause a huge ripple to appear in the adventure that they were on. Because outside, the dark clouds had settled over Pallitia Town and the surrounding area, and swallowed up the light that Aria seemed to trust, and that Pit followed doubtlessly, symbolizing a simple fact; troubles unseen were brewing.


	11. Travelling to the Mountains

Chapter 11: Travelling to the Mountains

The next morning went relatively smoothly. Aria insisted that the group get special training in the manor's "special training room." Vinnia and Zephynn seemed reluctant to learn how to fight with actual weapons. Pit on the other hand was blazing through target ranges and learning slowly how to concentrate his melee strength to the staff so that fatigue didn't catch up to him. Little by little over that morning was he able to lengthen the time he could use the powerful attack.

Aria was showing her stuff amazingly. None of the three of them were able to understand how perfect of a shot she was with a bow and arrows. She hit the middle of the target _every _time. As she continued to move farther and farther back, her accuracy seemed to get even more deadly. The targets were filled with arrows by the time she was done and none of them had touched outside of the middle mark. Not even Pit could aim that well, and the bows he had used had homing ability.

Relations between the four members of the group were still rusty. Aria was still quite a distant member of the team, due to not being on it for as long as the other three had, even if that time was short in itself. Vinnia still had less trust in her than the other two. Pit was the glue that held the team together for the short time that they were in Aria's manor.

When the time came to leave the next afternoon, no one saw them off, which was a surprise to Pit. He'd have thought that the duke would have shown up to see that his daughter was leaving. Perhaps he trusted her enough that he didn't need to know where she was. He obviously believed that his daughter would be safe with the skills she had, and Pit understood why; with the shot she had, nobody would want to mess with her.

Pit himself even believed that Aria's dream may have just been a dream. After all, there were four of them together. How could the dream only accommodate half of them? If it did come down to that fight anyways, Vinnia and Zephynn would surely join in, and perhaps Aria as well. Pit felt quite confident that if that presence did happen to be Dark Pit; or any other darker sort of being, that they as a team would be able to join against it and defeat it quite easily.

As they left the town, Pit happened to notice a newspaper that was lying on the ground at the gates. Someone must have dropped it and Pit bent over to pick it up. On the front page, he was surprised to see a blurred picture that clearly depicted Magnus, Gaol, and Dark Pit. The rest of it he couldn't understand, due to his inability to decipher the strange small characters that seemed to make up larger statements on the piece of paper.

"Uh… Somewhat Staff?" asked Pit, "Can you… tell me what this says? I mean, I understand the pictures and all but…" The rest of the group had stopped and turned to look back at him as he stared at the paper. The Somewhat Staff looked over his shoulder from within the bag and turned its eye to an angle at which it could see the page.

"It says, 'The Dark Triad; A look into the world's three most powerful mercenaries,'" said the staff, "Why do you ask?" Then the staff slowly began to realize what Pit had just revealed about himself and began snickering. The others just stared at him in shock.

"You can't… read…" said Vinnia wide-eyed. Zephynn blinked twice and then shook his head, turning back around to face the town exit. Aria even seemed pretty stunned.

"Geez!" Pit cried, "I don't have time for things like that! Saving the world takes up most of the time I've got!"

"Uh-huh," said Vinnia, "Moving on." So Pit knew now why exactly what Dark Pit, Magnus, and Gaol were doing together. He could only wonder how they could have gotten to such a point so that they would have such a close alliance.

Storm clouds brewed overhead them as they advanced towards the mountain range to the northeast from Pallitia Town. This, as Aria explained, was where the light was directing her. It almost seemed funny to the likes of Vinnia and Zephynn, because light was quite scarce under these near black storm clouds. However, Pit followed her without question.

Yet the clouds above them brought no rain or thunder, but instead only cooled the air around them. Zephynn seemed subtly uncomfortable in that such situation. By the time the sun was setting that night, they had reached the foot of the mountain range and found a small cave that they could camp out in. The air temperature had dropped quite a bit due to the sun's hiding behind the clouds, thus making Zephynn visibly uncomfortable with the climate.

"Is there something wrong with you?" asked Vinnia as they tried to spark a fire in the cave.

"I really don't like the cold," said Zephynn, shivering in his own little corner and folded up like a ball again. Aria sparked the flame and immediately, Zephynn was right next to it, warming it with his hands. Vinnia could only snicker at him but Pit and Aria didn't bother guessing that he didn't like cold weather and bundled up next to it as well. After a little while, Vinnia sat down with them by the flames. At this point the moon was rising outside, but they could not see its beauty through the dark clouds. Still, they all hit the cold rocky ground and slept peacefully that night, resting for whatever day they might have tomorrow. Little did they know, they were about to reach a climax.


	12. Duel Between Light and Dark

A/N: Again, like chapter 5, this chapter will have identical dialogue and different point-of-views throughout it in each of the two stories.

Chapter 12: Duel Between Light and Dark

When Team Pit woke up the next morning, they did the usual. Got dressed, ate breakfast (which Aria cooked over a portable stove), and found Aria's cooking quite delicious compared to what they'd been having over the last week. Then, after they broke camp, they set out up the mountain, because "the light" was pushing Aria towards that direction. Vinnia and Zephynn still didn't understand the whole "light" concept, but Pit seemed to be entranced by this "light" as well, so they followed rather reluctantly.

They were able to find a steep mountain path leading upward and they decided to take it. As they ascended, they faced many obstacles, including getting lost twice, and having to cross a small canyon that none of them could jump. Vinnia solved that quickly and summoned vines to carry them to the other side. Eventually, as the sun was coming overhead, they reached the cave and decided to rest for a few minutes outside before heading in.

The cave was overall barely lit and the only light in the cave came from outside. As they went deeper, it got darker. Then it got brighter as they came to a deeper end of the cave. Crystals became visible sticking out of the walls and ceiling. The group slowed their pace and found themselves in a room filled with purple crystals of all kinds. They stopped and Aria announced, "This is where the light leads me."

"Here?" asked Vinnia, "It's just a room full of crystals!"

"I don't know Vinnia," said Pit, shuddering all of a sudden, "I feel something nearby." With a growing sense of dread he scanned the cave of crystals. He suddenly knew what he was feeling.

"Dark Pit," he whispered breathlessly. Footsteps echoed behind them and all four of them turned around to see Dark Pit standing there with a murderous look on his face, yet a grin so dark that it sent a wave of fear through all of them.

"Oh no… not this guy again…" Vinnia groaned. Dark Pit was wearing a new outfit, not surprising Pit at all, seeing as how his tunic had been destroyed in the last battle. His outfit was composed of some sort of a thick black cloth that formed something of a covering for him. The cloth covered his arms as though sleeves, but it hung very low like a cloak. He was still wearing the belt from the destroyed outfit however, and it was the only thing that remained.

"Hi there," said Dark Pit in a sarcastic way, "What brings you here?" Aria stepped forward before anyone could say a thing.

"I led them," said Aria. Dark Pit stood in silence as Magnus and Gaol decided to step out from behind where Dark Pit had apparently been hiding. It seemed as though they were on the plan of not saying anything at all, because instead they seemed to back off.

As Pit studied Dark Pit's outfit more closely, he realized that he was lacking the laurels that should have kept his head from hurting.

"Wait a minute," said Pit, "Don't you need laurels so that you don't get a severe headache from strong weapons?"

"Not at all," Dark Pit replied, "You may need them, but I, being the better one, have no need of such crude protection." Pit seemed surprisingly offended for someone who didn't get hurt on the inside very often.

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Pit in defense, "You're the same exact person as me! We're practically twins!" Dark Pit's smile grew wider.

"My time on Earth has developed me," he said, "If you think we're equal, then prove it. I challenge you to a duel!" Pit suddenly lit up, remembering the result of the last conflict. Seeing as how that ended, he knew quite well that he would win. And with the ability to control the effect of the staff's melee attack on himself and the staff, he would have a huge upper hand, especially since Dark Pit's weapon had been clearly destroyed in the last fight.

"I accept that challenge," said Pit, drawing the staff with sheer confidence. Dark Pit widened his grin even further and stepped back a few paces, and then reached into his strange new outfit, withdrawing something from it. It appeared to be the broken handle of a weapon. Then, he swung it diagonally downwards and two blades sprung from each end. One was shorter than the other and quite sharp, while the other resembled the unbroken end of a Silver Bow. Upon the unveiling of the two weapons from the handle, a gust of wind swirled around Dark Pit and his new outfit's bottom flew back dramatically.

Pit recoiled in shock and backed up three paces.

"No way…" said Pit in panic, "That weapon broke! I'm sure of it!"

"You know," he started casually, "I should actually thank you for breaking it. Because you did, it now has the potential to become the most powerful weapon in existence." Dark Pit demonstrated his point by summoning a small cyclone of wind around him. Pit knew immediately what Dark Pit must have done.

"The wind sword…" said Pit breathlessly, "You took it from that bandit and… and you took it and…"

"Ah, so you met that guy too," said Dark Pit, "He had no business wielding such a powerful weapon. In his hands, the power was wasted. In my hands, the power's fully realized." Pit warily raised the staff, knowing good and well that he had just walked into a situation that he good and well might come hurt out of. Something in Dark Pit's tone told him that the other angel was serious. Dark Pit's eyes narrowed.

"En guard," said Dark Pit quietly. Then he suddenly charged forward.

The other three members of Pit's party jumped back a few steps and Pit countered Dark Pit's strike with a swing of the staff. Dark Pit pulled back immediately and then barreled forward with numerous blade strikes in tow. Pit began to be pushed back quickly by Dark Pit's furious slashes and tried to counter, but he was backed against a large crystal towards the back of the room.

At this point, Dark Pit was chaining his sword blows so he could get close to Pit's neck, and Pit knew good and well what he was aiming at, seeing as where he was swinging. Pit dodged the final strike by jumping into the air and pushed himself off of the crystal behind him, thus pushing him five feet behind Dark Pit, just enough distance to fire the staff at his rival, knowing well that Dark Pit couldn't attack from a distance.

The red hot shot flew towards Dark Pit, who had pulled up a cyclone of wind to deflect the shot, thus sending it against the rock wall behind him. Pit tried to move farther away from his opponent so as to snipe him, but that was a huge mistake, seeing as how he was backing up into a corner. Pit didn't realize his mistake until Dark Pit shot at him at top speed, preparing another barrage of sword blows.

Pit was shoved into the wall by Dark Pit and his rival unleashed his strikes. Pit ducked under some and countered others, tiring with every blow thrown at him. Dark Pit almost hit him with the final blow but an arrow flew right past Dark Pit's face and hit the wall beside Pit's head. Pit knew what had happened within a split second and rolled out from under Dark Pit's fury, dashing to the other side of the cave.

Aria was lowering her bow as Dark Pit suddenly immobilized Pit with a gust of wind and stormed up to her with the wind at his back. Zephynn jumped behind Vinnia as he suddenly came to be in front of them while Vinnia just backed up further towards the wall of the cave in terror. The sword was brought down to Aria's leg as she looked down at Dark Pit.

"I'd kill you, but I need you alive," said Dark Pit threateningly, "So if you interfere again, you'll never walk again." Aria dropped her bow and backed up to where Vinnia and Zephynn were standing, her face pale and full of terror. Pit took this opportunity to charge another shot, and fired as Dark Pit was turning around. Pit watched Dark Pit surround the blade with wind and fling the blast aside, causing it to explode against a crystal on the ground nearby, leaving nothing but a crater of smoking hot energy from the blast.

Dark Pit wasted no time charging at Pit through the crater and trying to attack him again. Pit, however, dodged around him and dashed away from Dark Pit, looking back at the same time and firing at his rival. However, he didn't consider the definite space of the cave and ran smack into the wall.

Dazed for a few seconds on the ground, he saw Dark Pit jumping overhead him. He shook it off in less than a second and rolled out of the way, thus allowing Dark Pit to stab the knife into the ground at least a few inches. Pit, practically out of breath by the time he had reached the other end of the room. He caught his breath and watched Dark Pit yank his sword out of the ground. Pit got ready to fire from a distance again but before he could, Dark Pit was on top of him due to the speed from his blade.

The slashes came as though lightning and somehow Pit was able to keep them from hitting him.

"_I have to use it,_" Pit suddenly thought, "_It's my only way out!_" With that he yelled out, "Alright staff! Do your stuff!"

"With pleasure!" the staff responded. The staff appeared to extend to three times its length with the addition of the pink glow and Pit knocked back Dark Pit's strike back. Dark Pit slid back on his feet and readied his blade once again. Pit was already fatiguing, and he didn't understand why.

"Is it because…" he gasped, "I already used so much of my energy in the fight?" Dark Pit wasted no time charging at him. He swung the sword in a special way and Pit tried to block, but the staff flew from his hand and slid twenty feet away from where the two of them were facing off. Pit felt a sharp kick in his back, and was knocked to the center of the room. He slowly got up to his hands and knees and Dark Pit walked up behind him, pushing the sword directly under Pit's neck. Pit could feel the terrifying power radiating directly under his throat.

The Somewhat Staff made an attempt to fly back towards Pit, but Dark Pit grabbed it out of the air effortlessly and jabbed it into Pit's side. The staff, of course, was quite angry at this action.

"Unhand me you fiend!" the staff yelled. Dark Pit didn't heed the staff's words and only gripped tighter.

"You've lost," said Dark Pit plainly, "I could easily kill you here and now." The staff, realizing what Dark Pit was saying, shut up entirely. Having two weapons on someone and being threatened like that was not a good sign. Pit felt Dark Pit bringing the sword closer to his neck.

"However, you have something I want; or, rather, someone. If you hand over the girl with the bow, you can keep your pathetic life," said Dark Pit threateningly. Pit felt ultimately sick to his stomach. Here he was with his life on the line against his rival, and the only thing that could save him was giving up Aria, who had trusted him to change the course of her dream.

"Well?" asked Dark Pit, as Pit thought things over.

"I… I… I… can't…" Pit was cut off by Dark Pit.

"Hmmm?" said Dark Pit, digging the sword into Pit's skin. Pit felt it cut and panicked, beginning to scream.

"Mercy! Uncle! You can have her! Just don't take my life!" he screamed. He visibly saw Aria almost faint at the other side of the room, and heard Dark Pit say, "Terms accepted." The sword was removed from under his neck and the staff was thrown to the ground nearby, and Pit felt his neck in a mixture of panic and absolute terror. Then he felt a brutal kick to his head, and he was out cold.

* * *

Vinnia was terrified. Dark Pit, as he was so called, pointed at the man named Magnus and then at Aria. "Magnus," he said, waking Magnus from the shock that he was in, "Grab the girl."

The woman named Gaol, hidden behind her armor, also approached them alongside the man with the enormous sword-club. Magnus walked up to Aria and she fainted right into his arms. He then slung her over his shoulder and Gaol picked up her bow. Dark Pit made a snapping motion with his hands and Gaol did just that. Two pieces of wood fell on the ground, connected by a string. The two humans left the cave.

Vinnia heard Zephynn faint behind her and grabbed his wrist, pulling him into her arms. Dark Pit stared at her sternly.

"If you follow us, your heads will roll," he said sincerely. As such, when they left the cave, leaving an unconscious angel, and two demigods, one shaken, the other out cold, Vinnia did absolutely nothing.


	13. The Decision

Chapter 13: The Decision

It was some time before Pit woke up again. When he did, he found himself lying in an igloo of vines again. He shot up off of the ground in shock, remembering what exactly had happened up to the point of being kicked in the head. The duel, Dark Pit threatening him with his sword thing, agreeing to give up Aria… His head swiveled around and he registered that he was alone in the vine igloo. No one seemed to be around. He suddenly broke down crying in his lap.

"This is my fault," Pit cried, "It's my fault Aria's gone… I should have just… I should have just let him kill me!" He cried harder. Nothing could compare to what his mind was registering right now. He had no idea why the Dark Triad was so interested in taking Aria, but he didn't care at this point. Those three had her somewhere as a prisoner, and it was his fault; he had been selfish and chosen his life over someone else's.

He was so busy crying that he didn't hear the voices of Vinnia and Zephynn coming from outside. He was so hurt right now from everything he'd lost from the fight that nothing could pull him out of the depression he was in.

* * *

Vinnia stood up straight as she heard Pit saying something about Aria being taken being his fault. She couldn't stand to think of it either, that those brutal warriors would hurt somebody just so they could take someone else. Even if Aria was bossy and annoying, she didn't deserve to have something like that done to her.

She also couldn't stand hearing Pit blame himself for the hit that they had taken when he was utterly defeated in the cave. It was all Dark Pit's fault. Vinnia found something about that guy seriously wrong and demented. _And likely_, Vinnia guessed in her mind, _Pit's never been in such a situation where his life has been on the line for someone else! I bet he's never been backed into such a small corner!_

As Vinnia thought angrily about this she turned to Zephynn with a new idea in mind.

"You know what Zephynn?" said Vinnia firmly, "We need to learn how to fight without our powers."

"But Vinnia… we could have died back there," said Zephynn meekly, "How can we possibly go up against something like that even with our powers…" Vinnia cut him off with a smack to the face. Zephynn held his cheek in pain and backed up.

"Man up Zephynn!" she yelled, "You saw Pit get beaten back there! You saw how powerful that guy is! Imagine Pit having to go up against all three of them at once at their current strength! That would be brutal. He's going to need our help, and if either of us uses too much of our own power, we'll be wiped out! Don't you see? We need to learn how to fight with weapons so we can assist Pit!"

"Vinnia… I can't fight…" Zephynn pleaded. Vinnia smacked him again.

"I can't believe you!" Vinnia yelled, "Stop being such a coward! What happened to the kid who was brave enough to talk back to me in that temple of yours? You were brave back then!"

"Yeah, for about two seconds," said Zephynn solemnly. Vinnia prepared for another smack to his face but Zephynn caught her hand before it could hit him.

"Vinnia," he said, "A lot has happened to me between now and then. I know what this world is like now. And maybe you're right. Maybe I do need to learn how to fight. But at the moment, I'm still sorting things out. When I'm ready, I'll prepare myself." Vinnia stared at him for a few seconds and then pulled her hand away.

"You know what?" asked Vinnia crossly. Zephynn wasn't given time to respond because Vinnia had kicked him in the shin.

"OW!" Zephynn screamed in pain as he fell to his bottom on the ground, holding his shin.

"You have guts," said Vinnia, looking down on him crossly, "I know it. Some part of you is strong inside. As I said before, man up. If you want to follow me, go right on ahead, because I don't mind. If not, you can just stay here with crybaby Pit." With that she stormed off through the trees.

* * *

Zephynn held his shin in pain as he watched Vinnia go. He couldn't believe what he was going through.

When he had angered Vinnia back at his mother's temple, he hadn't expected things to come this far. He had been taken by a shadow that had been extended from its body so as to find him. Who that shadow belonged to he didn't know, but it threatened him like there was no tomorrow.

Then after he had been rescued, he and the others had met Aria in Pallitia Town and she had scared him silly with her knives and her marksmanship. After that, they had gone to the mountain range they had been at the previous day, and Pit had gotten the crap beaten out of him by that dark angel he had called Dark Pit. Aria had been taken and Zephynn had fainted as a result. All of these events had reduced Zephynn's thoughts about the world to one thing; the world was evil.

And it was most certainly true. After Phyra had apparently been kidnapped, everything started to go wrong. Zephynn had lived within his mother's protective bubble for his entire life and now here he was, with sudden experiences in a dangerous world that constantly strived to kill him.

Another thought suddenly awakened in his mind; if the world was trying to kill him, he should try to fight back so as not to get killed. And the best way to fight back was to learn how to fight against what was threatening him.

With that thought in mind, he blew a small gust of special whispering wind to relay the message to Pit that he was going after Vinnia. He knew what he had to do now and he was going to do it.


	14. New Weapons

Chapter 14: New Weapons

Zephynn caught up to Vinnia as a town came into view. Vinnia seemed to be watching the gate when he walked up behind her.

"So you came after all," said Vinnia in an unsurprised tone, "I knew you had it in you."

"Well… I guess it's just because the world seems to be against me," said Zephynn.

"No joke," said Vinnia, "With what you've been through this last week after five hundred years rotting in that temple of your mother's, I can understand how you feel." She turned around. "Utterly scared and alone," she finished. Zephynn nodded slowly and then she grabbed his wrist.

"Come on," said Vinnia, "We need to get in there. I've heard of this place and it's got one of the best forges in the world."

"Wait, do you even have money?" asked Zephynn, "And even if you did, do you have enough to buy… uh, real weapons?"

"No, I don't have money," said Vinnia, "Now come on. It's almost noon!" Zephynn slowly put two and two together as Vinnia pulled him towards the town and realized that they were about to become thieves.

"Oh boy…" he said to himself.

"Did you say something?" asked Vinnia, pausing to look back at him.

"No," said Zephynn, pulling his hand away from her, "And I can find my way on my own just fine, thank you very much." Vinnia rolled her eyes and made another gesture to follow her, which Zephynn did in reluctance.

Unlike Pallitia Town, the town they had entered seemed more like a military base than a town. There were houses that were quite run down and the streets seemed to be empty.

"Where is everyone?" asked Zephynn.

"I don't know," said Vinnia, "Who cares? Let's just make towards the forge, get some weapons, and get out of this dump." They saw smoke rising over one of the buildings nearby.

"That must be it," said Zephynn. The two of them snuck around the buildings, which made the place seem even more like a military base as they went deeper in. Some of them had tarps for ceilings and one of them actually revealed that some of the houses were tents, as there were flaps open everywhere.

They reached the forge with no trouble at all and walked in to find that there was nobody in there either.

"Okay, this is getting creepy," said Zephynn, "If this is a town, where is everyone?" Vinnia put her hands on her hips and tried to think.

"Maybe everyone evacuated," said Vinnia. Zephynn picked up a steel blade that was about four feet long from one of the tables. It appeared to be freshly made, and it also balanced perfectly in his hand.

"No, if everyone evacuated, there wouldn't be fresh weapons here would there?" Zephynn asked.

"Why does a town need to make weapons anyways?" asked Vinnia as she picked up a lance and lifted it up and down, "It almost doesn't feel right to call it a town!" Voices suddenly came from outside. Both demigods looked at each other and ducked under different tables.

"How about that lance you were making?" one asked.

"Yeah, you said it was going to be awesome," said another.

"Guys, just be patient," said a third voice, "I know I'm like, the best forger around here, but just wait until you see it in the training room and you'll know just how powerful it is.." Three burly looking men walked right into the forge. They all wore shirts with the sleeves cut off entirely and their pants were black from working in the forge for so long. Zephynn guessed that they were returning from lunch.

As the middle of the three, probably the one who had been bragging about his skills as a forger, walked up to the table that Vinnia had taken the lance off of, his face turned from stuck up to what-the-heck-where-did-my-lance-go.

"Did one of you two idiots take the lance I made?" he asked as he turned around to the others.

"No sir," said the one on the left in confusion, "We have no idea what happened to it. Isn't that right?" The one next to him shook his head in agreement.

"Yeah," he said, "We have no idea what happened."

"You two better not being lying to me," said the braggart with a mean looking face. As the three forgers were talking up there, Vinnia and Zephynn were communicating via whisper between the tables they were hiding under.

"What do we do now?" asked Zephynn in a hush. The sword was still in his hand.

"I don't know," Vinnia whispered in response, "Maybe we could distract them…"

"Did you hear something?" asked the mean forger. The other two shook their heads.

"Are you two hiding something from me?" he said angrily.

"No sir," said the first of the other two, "We aren't hiding anything." He took a step back, but the mean forger took two steps forward and grabbed him by the neck.

"Tell me what you're hiding!" he yelled. Vinnia took this opportunity to wrap his legs in a couple of vines and then jerk them so that he screamed and fell to the ground on his back, thus causing the other forger that he had been holding to fly over to the wall and hit his head, further knocking him unconscious. Vinnia quickly retracted the vines as the only forger left standing bent down to shake the mean forger. He was knocked out of the forge by a gust of scorching wind and hit the ground outside.

Vinnia and Zephynn rolled out from underneath their hiding spots and dashed out of the forge, but not before the mean forger could see them.

"Thieves!" he screamed, "Patrol! Get them!" Vinnia and Zephynn found themselves trapped in an alleyway created by the buildings around them. Soldiers approached them from both sides.

"Yeah, this isn't a town," said Vinnia, "It's definitely a military base."

"So what do we do now?" asked Zephynn in panic.

"Man up chicken boy," said Vinnia twirling the lance she had stolen in her hand, "It's time to fight!"

"Uh… are you sure about that?" asked Zephynn, his panic growing.

"Again, man up!" Vinnia yelled. They stood back to back, weapons at the ready as the soldiers came closer. Then, Vinnia shot forward at the first line of soldiers, leaving Zephynn to look back in shock as she impaled the first soldier coming at them from her direction.

Vinnia herself suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She pulled the lance away and jumped back, realizing what she had just done.

"Okay…" Vinnia said in sudden panic, "That was… odd."

"Now do you understand how I feel?" asked Zephynn, who was trembling as the soldiers came closer to them at a fast pace. Vinnia raised her hand in the air and vines shot out of the ground, lifting them above the soldiers and onto the rooftop above them.

"That was scary," said Zephynn sincerely when they found themselves out of harm's way, "Now do you see why I didn't want to fight?"

"You already asked that," said Vinnia, still pale from what she had done, "And yes, I most certainly do. This is not like killing monsters." She turned towards the exit of the encampment, which was quite a ways from where they were.

"I say we get out of here in stealth," said Vinnia.

"I agree," said Zephynn in response, "But that'll be quite hard to do." He pointed down to the street below them where soldiers were gathering in formation and facing the rooftop where they were taking refuge. Vinnia quickly regained her composure and took a breath in and out.

"Let's go," said Vinnia, trying to remain calm.

As they headed for where they had entered the military encampment, they tried to avoid combat as much as possible. Eventually, the buildings got to the point at which they were tents again, and the two demigods had to jump off and run for their lives. They encountered a few more legions of soldiers, which they swiftly avoided, and eventually, they reached the exit of the encampment unhassled.

"We're almost there," said Vinnia hopefully, "We just have to make a run for it."

"Even if we do, we're branded for life by these people," said Zephynn, "If they find us they're going to kill us."

"Stop being such a pessimist and let's go!" Vinnia said in annoyance, "I mean, I know that's true but…" Suddenly, an enormous creature with a single red eye on its forehead barreled into the camp from the woods holding an enormous, spiked, brown club with a metal handle. Slime dripped from everywhere on its body, and it seemed that it was sweating the stuff.

"What in heaven's name is that thing!?" Vinnia cried.

"I don't want to know…" Zephynn responded, shaking as he tried to hold his sword in a ready stance. The enormous Cyclops creature began smashing the buildings and tents of the camp almost immediately. Soldiers appeared instantly to try to immobilize it, but it knocked them all out of the way.

"We have to do something!" Vinnia cried.

"But we can't!" Zephynn argued, pulling her back, "They'll kill us on sight!"

"Would rather die at the hands of that ugly thing?" asked Vinnia, "Because it's going to come after us when it's done killing them." Zephynn waited too long to respond because both of them felt a hand on their shoulders. They looked up to see the mean forger smiling evilly down upon them.

"Hello kiddies," he said, clearly steamed at them for what they had done, "How about you come with me and give those weapons back?" Vinnia responded by summoning a vine and wrapping it around his neck, thus pulling him off of them and allowing for Vinnia to smash him in the stomach with the butt of the lance. He fell to the ground gasping for breath.

Vinnia withdrew the vine and smacked him over the head with the lance's hilt. He fell unconscious.

"What a nuisance," said Vinnia, "At least he gets knocked out easily. I wouldn't want to… you know."

"Yeah," said Zephynn, "I know alright. Do you still want to help them at the risk of being thrown in prison for the rest of our lives?"

"Yeah," said Vinnia, spinning her lance in her hand, "Would you leave a bunch of poor innocent souls in need?" Zephynn had no answer for her.

"I thought not," said Vinnia, "And besides, I think I owe them enough already. Let's go!" They both charged at the gargantuan monster and tried stabbing it in the legs, but their attacks simply bounced off and a swing from the club forced them to retreat.

"Okay," said Zephynn getting his sword ready again, "So we can't hurt it. Now what?"

"It has to have a weak point somewhere," said Vinnia.

"Its eye maybe?" asked Zephynn.

"No, that's too obvious, it's got to be somewhere else," said Vinnia, "After all, what idiot would create a monster with its eye as its weak point?"

"You're assuming it's been created by something?" asked Zephynn. The club swung down at them and they jumped the swing.

"Yep," said Vinnia, "Underworld monsters are. Why not these guys?" They dodged a few more swings of the monster's club before trying to stab it again. It didn't work. The monster's skin was harder than diamond.

"Hitting it in the skin isn't working," said Zephynn, anxiety catching up to him.

"Well what part of its outside isn't made of skin?" asked Vinnia in frustration, "We can't hit anything that's not skin on its body!"

"You're making no sense at all," said Zephynn.

"I know I am!" Vinnia yelled, "What can we hit that's not skin!?"

"Uh… its eye?" Zephynn suggested again. Vinnia observed monster again and they dodged another swing of its club. It was seven feet tall at least and as Zephynn had said, its eye was the only part of it that wasn't skin that could be hit from the outside.

"Fine, we'll go for the eye!" Vinnia exclaimed in annoyance, "But just how do you plan to reach that height?"

"Let me take a shot," a voice came from atop one of the buildings. Both demigods looked up and saw Pit standing on the roof of the closest building to them. The staff was in his hand, and his eyes, though blatantly lost in sadness, were also filled with some form of confidence. The enormous monster turned to him and got ready to swing the club, but Pit raised the staff into the shooting position and aimed directly at its eye.

When the club was ten feet from him, Pit fired. Rather than a normal charge shot, out came a beam of red light that buried itself in the monster's eye. The club fell onto the roof not five feet away from Pit and the monster held its face in pain. Slowly, the monster melted into the ground, and its remains were but a pile of slime that slowly soaked away leaving only a destroyed camp entrance to account for the battle's happening.


	15. Argument

Chapter 15: Argument

The three travelers had an excellent dinner at the military encampment that night; that is, after Pit bailed Vinnia and Zephynn out. After the Cyclops had melted into the ground, the soldiers had looked upon Pit as though a god. Pit had told them that Zephynn and Vinnia were innocent children under his care, and simply had mental issues. Vinnia had almost blown a fuse at that remark, but Pit had given her a murderous glare, and then the "I'm watching you" signal to both of them. To their surprise, their weapons were not confiscated.

Because of the previously mentioned fact that the soldiers had thought Pit was a god, they had welcomed all three of them for dinner and apparently forgotten that Vinnia and Zephynn had stolen weapons from their forge. It was kind of awkward for Vinnia, since the mean forger, whose name was Desmund, was shooting death glares at her the whole time. Now, all three of them were in one of the tents of the encampment, readying themselves for sleep that night. It was there that Pit finally spoke to them directly.

"You two are absolutely unbelievable!" Pit yelled at them, "You leave me to cry to myself in the middle of the woods and then come and steal weapons from innocent humans? What the heck were you thinking!?" Zephynn shrunk back against the wall of the tent, but Vinnia put on her usual defiant face.

"Well, in case you were wondering," said Vinnia brashly, "Which you are, we were trying to find something that would help us help your sorry, flimsy butt in battle after you lost miserably to that Dark Pit character, since clearly if we ever meet up with those three again, which I'm assuming that we are, you aren't going to be able to take them alone, and we're not going to be able to help you at all with our powers." Pit's face went red with anger.

"I can handle myself just fine!" he yelled at her.

"Well then why didn't you annihilate that fool back there?" Vinnia asked, raising her voice to match his, "He only had half a weapon and you still lost to him! Was it because you were too toppled by the fact that he was still alive after you almost killed him the first time you fought when I was present?" Pit hesitated to answer, but he was still clearly hopping mad.

"So I was hesitant," said Pit, "That doesn't mean I can't beat him next time!"

"Oh, I can tell you that you're not going to beat him next time," said Vinnia folding her arms, "His weapon had new things to it. Clearly he can fuse things into it, and that means that if he finds something powerful, you're going to be running home crying, or lying down dead."

"What makes _you_ think _you_ can do anything against that?" Pit asked in pure rage.

"I can't," said Vinnia calmly, "But if all three of us converge together, we'll probably be able to beat him, and maybe the others as well. No more duels. From now on, it's three on three." Pit clearly did not like the idea and responded in such a way.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you two get hurt," said Pit in rejection, "I've already lost one companion. I can't lose two more."

"You have no idea what I'm saying here Pit!" Vinnia fumed, "This is the point of the conversation; we learn to fight so that does not happen, and so that we can help you oppose our enemies!"

"You two cannot fight!" Pit yelled at her.

"We can and we will!" Vinnia yelled back. Pit suddenly grabbed the staff out of the pack nearby and pointed it right at Vinnia.

"Stand down," said Pit with a cold glare settled on her, "I simply cannot allow you two to endanger yourselves." Vinnia, in one swift movement, grabbed her stolen lance off of the ground nearby and pointed it at Pit.

"I will not stand down," said Vinnia, "And I will fight you if it is necessary to change your mind." The two of them glared at each other with feral stares. Just as they were about to thrust their weapons at each other, an enormous blast of wind that shook the tent blew between them and brought them back to their senses.

"Enough!" Zephynn yelled, stepping in between them, "I can't take this anymore! Get your heads on straight!" Vinnia and Pit stared at him in shock. Zephynn looked between the two of them with a scolding glare. His glare settled on Vinnia.

"_You _stop speaking for me," he said fiercely. Then he turned to Pit. "And _you _quit acting all high and mighty," he finished. He let his words settle into his travelling partners before continuing.

"Vinnia is right," he said calmly, "You can't work alone Pit. You saw yourself how badly you were beaten back there. I doubt even without the shock that you felt that you would have won. And Vinnia, I really do want to learn how to fight, but I don't want to be forced to do it by someone else. If I am to learn how to fight, I must blaze my own trail at my own pace. In other words, let me become just a little bit more independent so that I'm not always relying on you two." Vinnia and Pit had nothing to say. Zephynn's glare softened and he closed his eyes and opened them again.

"Now, can you two please kiss and make up or something like that?" he asked pleadingly, "I really don't know if I can handle you guys fighting like this." Angel and demigod were disgusted at his comment, but the point seemed to get across. They shook hands and dropped their weapons; in the case of the Somewhat Staff it actually floated out of Pit's hand.

"Well, now that that's settled," said the staff, the first words it had spoken since the battle in the cave, "Why don't you tell them about that new ability that we discovered?"

"Oh, right!" Pit exclaimed in remembrance, "You saw the laser yesterday right?" Vinnia and Zephynn nodded.

"Well, that was another one of the Somewhat Staff's abilities," said Pit, "Speaking of which, can I call you Bob or something like that?"

"For the thousandth time no!" the staff yelled angrily, "I'm fine with just Somewhat Staff or staff or whatever is relevant to that!"

"It seems powerful," said Vinnia, "Something like that has got to have backlash."

"It does," said Pit seriously, "Both of us think that if we were to take that beam to full power, it would destroy us both." There were a few moments of silence as that thought settled in.

"So anyways, how are you two going to get weapon training?" asked Pit, "I mean; I've never used a lance or a sword before. The closest thing to a sword I've used was a blade and that's totally different."

"You won't have to teach us," said Vinnia, "We can learn from the soldiers since they have experience in using human weapons."

"Alright then," said Pit, "We'll get them to teach you guys how to use those things tomorrow, but only tomorrow, because we have to get going."

"And reassert our mission," said the staff, "We must find where the gods are being held." Pit and the others nodded in agreement.

"It's too bad that these weapons aren't like the staff," said Zephynn as he sat down on the ground of their tent, "Then they'd be able to go long range."

"Yeah," said Vinnia, "But you can't have everything." And with that, the sleeping bags were set up and the candle was put out thus allowing them to sleep, as the three travelers wanted to be rested well for the day ahead of them.


	16. Mass Destruction via Cyclopes

Chapter 16: Mass Destruction Via Cyclops

The next day was filled with the hardcore training. Vinnia and Zephynn dueled all day long with veteran soldiers, who had gladly taken time out of their schedule to help out, mostly due to Pit. Vinnia, as she gradually became better over the day (the soldiers still pretty much knocked them on their behinds for the entire day), still worried for Pit, who continued to keep himself in solitude. She had actually spoken to the staff about sticking with him at all times, to which the staff responded, "I'm his only weapon, and he has common sense. I have no doubt that he's going to go anywhere without me."

Vinnia had to agree with that. As she was knocked to her back for the umpteenth time and the soldier helped her up, she wondered where Pit was at the moment. The sun was beginning its descent.

He happened to be walking around the exterior of the camp, just scouting around. He was entirely unprepared for what was about to hit him.

"You seem quiet today," said the staff.

"I'm still thinking," Pit murmured.

"That's what you need to stop doing," said the staff.

"Easy for you to say," said Pit, "You don't even have a brain."

"In my soul, I do," said the staff in firm response, "I thought I might let you know that I am slowly recovering memories of my past life as we move along in this journey."

"Like what?" asked Pit, not breaking his pace.

"Just flashes," said the staff, "A girl with blue hair, my mother's blurry face… I can't remember anymore."

"That seems odd," said Pit, "How often do you get these flashes?"

"I wasn't getting them much at all before we found my first skill," said the staff, "Then in between that and when we discovered the laser…" Pit shuddered at the memory. He hadn't told Vinnia and Zephynn yet, and he certainly wouldn't for quite a while.

"So you're basically saying every time we find one of your skills, you recover your memory?" Pit asked.

"Yes," said the staff, "Why this is, I don't know. It is most certainly strange." Pit nodded. Then a thought that had been harbored in his mind for a long while came to him.

"What do you think happened back in that base with all of the lasers?" asked Pit, "Before we reached…" He stopped short, just to save himself some pain. He couldn't even say her name anymore without choking up.

"What exactly are you referring to?" asked the staff.

"When the Power of Flight activated," said Pit, "It couldn't be a coincidence. Lady Palutena must have reached me."

"I would not imply that she has escaped," said the staff, "It did only last for a little bit after all. Perhaps she was able to reach out to touch just once." Pit nodded grimly and stared at the ground. He wondered deeply about what all of the gods might be going through right at the moment. He imagined pain, torture, or whatever else from their captor. Then, his train of thought was interrupted by a rumbling sound, along with the shaking of the ground.

"What the…" Pit said in surprise, "What's going on?"

"An earthquake!" the staff yelled, "We have to duck and cover!"

"What in the world is an earthquake?" Pit asked in confusion, clearly influenced by his roots in Skyworld.

"Doesn't matter!" the staff yelled, "We have to…" It was interrupted by a sudden spear, which flew over Pit's head and crashed through the base wall. A Cyclops similar to the one Pit had killed the previous day was barging towards them. It wasn't alone either. Three more followed it and Pit felt more rumbling from every direction.

"Uh… I think whoever is controlling these has sent an entire legion of them," Pit suggested as he tried to keep his balance. The Cyclops creatures barged closer.

"Get out of the way!" the staff screamed. Pit jumped aside and all three of them crashed into the wall surrounding the base, not even bothering to stop.

"We have to stop them!" the staff yelled.

"You don't need to tell me twice," Pit said, gripping the staff below its neck. He charged into the encampment and an impossible battle.

* * *

Vinnia and Zephynn, in the meantime, were busy training still, when suddenly, one of the Cyclops that had been charging at Pit just seconds before barreled through the training area without stopping. Zephynn was almost crushed by the next one, but his sword saved his butt, and the Cyclops got a pretty bad stab in the foot. Apparently, they had reflexes too, because it jumped away from Zephynn holding its foot after Zephynn had stabbed it inadvertently. The third one that barged through skidded to a stop and started attacking with its bare hands.

"Zephynn, give me a boost!" Vinnia yelled as she started running at the Cyclops that had just entered. Zephynn almost didn't hear her because he was eyeing the other Cyclops nervously. It had put its foot down now and was looking around murderously. As Vinnia hit three feet in front of her Cyclops, she jumped. Zephynn saw this action and summoned a gust of wind to boost her up. She was pushed up to eye level with the enormous monster and stabbed it with her lance right in the eye. She fell to the ground, and the armor that had been lent to her for training protected her from the nasty fall. The Cyclops disintegrated.

Zephynn was hiding from the other Cyclops as the soldiers tried to bring it under control, but it clearly was not going to be controlled any time soon. Many of them were trampled and many more smashed by the monster's fists.

"Attack it Zephynn!" Vinnia yelled from across the room. Zephynn gulped and stared up at the Cyclops, which was still looking for him. He noticed it catching him out of the corner of its eye. It swung its arm again, and Zephynn rolled out of the way. The monster's fist smashed into the ground.

Zephynn's next few seconds were a blur. He ran and jumped onto the monster's arm. Then he ran up that, just as the monster noticed that he was on its shoulder. By the time Zephynn was on its head a split second later, it was angry times ten. It swung a fist right at the top of its head, and Zephynn jumped out of the way swiftly, thus causing it to knock itself out and fall over on the ground. Zephynn also suffered a fall, but not nearly bad as Vinnia's due to his wind abilities. After he landed on the ground, he simply walked up to the Cyclops, spun the sword in his hand, and thrust it into the monster's eye. Just as Vinnia's had, the monster disintegrated.

They didn't have time to breathe, because four more Cyclops barreled into the building they were in. The two demigods were barely able to dodge the rage-blinded Cyclops, which pretty much killed whatever was left of the soldiers in their building. Zephynn dashed over to Vinnia, who was now looking for a place to hide.

"What do we do?!" Zephynn panicked.

"Stay calm!" Vinnia barked, "We'll find a way out." A blast of red energy suddenly buried itself into one of the Cyclops's eyes. It fell to the ground and became a pile of slime. Pit ran into the now pretty much destroyed building and began firing at the others' eyes. All three fell in quick succession.

"Come on you two!" Pit yelled. Vinnia and Zephynn ran towards him and they all three made a mad dash for the exit of the encampment.

"Aren't we going to take down these Cyclops and save the soldiers?" Vinnia asked as they ran.

"There are too many," said Pit grimly, "We don't stand a chance."

"What happened to helping other people out even at the cost of your life?" asked Zephynn. Pit seemed lost all of a sudden.

"None of the soldiers in this camp survived," said Pit coldly, "No one. Corpses were strewn everywhere as I ran through there, trying to take down those monsters. No one could have survived." Words ceased, and the three of them ran like there was no tomorrow to get rid of that terrible legion of Cyclops creatures. And as they did, darkness began to take form, covering up the fading hours of daylight.


	17. Thoughts and Memories

Chapter 17: Thoughts and Memories

The three travelers slept exhausted under the stars that night. The rumbling was far from them by that point, and all three of them had literally collapsed and fallen asleep, as they had run for at least a half hour. The Somewhat Staff however, remained awake, due to the fact that it didn't need to sleep. It often used the night to talk to itself, because no one else could hear it. Tonight, it was doing just that.

The thoughts of its memories came to its mind around what it believed was two in the morning. Prior to this sudden thought, it had been contemplating all of Pit's faults and strengths, and why he might have been chosen to be the champion on this journey. Then it thought back to what he had told Pit in the afternoon of the previous day about what it remembered. That had been a lie. In truth, it could remember a lot more than it had let on.

It hadn't lied about the girl with blue hair; she still befuddled it quite a lot. Its mother was a curious case. It remembered something about never seeing her. The face was not quite as blurry anymore. It saw light blue hair and eyes that didn't seem to settle on one color. They constantly switched around, from blue, to black, to brown, to golden, to every color one could think of. Among others, it remembered the name of its hometown, Xintut, and also a few faces that it had known. Everything else was still blank to some extent. Thick fog still shrouded its mind.

It talked to itself about this for the rest of the night, and then when the sun came up again, it was a couple hours before the rest of the gang got up. They were all still majorly tired, as shown in the fact that Vinnia tripped over nothing at least five times, and Zephynn looked like a zombie. Pit simply couldn't sit up. They had just enough strength to dig up a hole using a couple of large branches and bury the armor in the soldier's honor. Why they did this, they didn't know, but it just felt like it was the right thing to do.

Finally, when the sun was high in the sky, they were able to set off.

"That was the worst night's sleep I've ever had in my life," Vinnia groaned as they trudged along in no particular direction.

"Yeah, you're telling us that," Zephynn mumbled, "I've never run that hard." Pit refused to speak. His eyes sagged and he looked as though he was fifty. Depression and exhaustion were taking their toll.

"You three need to push yourselves harder," said the staff cheerfully, "There are going to be worse times than this."

"Can you please shut up?" Zephynn asked without even bothering to turn around and look at the staff in Pit's hand (the bag had been lost in the onslaught of the Cyclops).

"You need encouragement," said the staff, "So no."

"If by encouragement, you mean a nuisance," Vinnia grumbled from the front of the group. The terrain around them had faded from a forest long before. Now they were somewhere in between that forest and the ocean, in a sandy landscape, as they could smell the sea breeze.

"We must be heading north," said Vinnia in realization, "The only ocean I know of is to the north." Pit still didn't speak as they reached the height of a sandy hill and the ocean came into view. It was beautiful, and glittered in the afternoon sun.

"Impressive," said Zephynn, feeling a cool and calm wind whip through his hair, "Uncle Boreas left this place in good shape."

"Boreas?" Vinnia asked.

"The north wind god," said Zephynn, "He was kidnapped like all of the others; I can feel it in the cries of the breeze. But it seems as though what he left behind has been holding its own against whatever we're up against." Pit finally broke his silence.

"What he left behind?" Pit asked. The two demigods turned to him in surprise. Pit seemed to have a look of shock in his face.

"Something's not right," said Pit, "When I woke up in Skyworld and this whole ordeal began, there was nobody in Skyworld but me, not even centurions. But here we keep seeing Underworlders, and you're saying now that your uncle still has some who fight for him here."

"I could be wrong," said Zephynn, "It may be that what Poseidon left behind is what is causing such serenity in a time like this."

"But still," said Pit, "Why is it that all of the Skyworlders were gone except for me, yet other gods still have people fighting for them?"

"Maybe all of the Skyworlders were killed?" Vinnia suggested.

"No," said Pit, "It's impossible for Centurions to be killed for good. They are always revived, no matter what."

"And if Skyworld was swarming with them," said the staff, "Where did they all go?"

"Maybe they were kidnapped with Palutena," said Zephynn.

"Not all of them," said Pit, "I hate to say it, but they're all weak and flimsy. Most would simply look them over as worthless." Vinnia and Zephynn were quite confused at what Pit was getting at, but the staff seemed to understand.

"You don't suppose…" the staff said anxiously. Pit nodded grimly and looked as though he had been stabbed through the chest or forced to carry the weight of the sky.

"Whoever kidnapped Lady Palutena had enough power to slay every one of the Centurions to the point of no return," he said formlessly. Before he could zone out too far, Vinnia punched him in the stomach and he doubled over.

"Quit thinking about it!" she yelled, "We can't have you down in the dumps all the time!" Pit fell to his

knees in pain. He nodded in agreement with her and then fell to the ground.

"You didn't have to hit _that_ hard," Pit groaned from her feet.

"Good to know that you're alive," said Vinnia. She helped him up and they turned towards the enormous aquatic expanse in front of them. Then they began walking across the dunes and towards the ocean. Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched from behind.


	18. Raven and Oscar

Chapter 18: Raven and Oscar

By the time the sun had set, Pit's party was exhausted again. Thankfully, a village was in view from where they had rested. They were honestly sick of the desert. It was hot, dry, and according to Vinnia, "The stupidest idea the gods have ever come with." Zephynn was cool with it, while Pit was still quite lost in thought. Vinnia finally stopped trying to slap him, because now he just ignored her. Most of the time, he lingered towards the back of the group and stared at the ground as he walked. The staff had begun floating along with them rather than hanging in Pit's grasp.

As they got ready to move on to the village, which seemed to be a mile away, Zephynn caught a disturbance in the air around them.

"Did you guys feel that?" he asked as they started to, and then quickly stopped walking.

"Feel what?" asked Vinnia objectively, "I don't care what you're feeling; I just want to get out of this hellhole." Just as she finished her statement, a fountain of water burst from the sand literally inches from Pit's back. Pit jumped forward in shock and turned around. Two more fountains of water appeared, surrounding them entirely. The three travelers backed up into each other as Vinnia and Zephynn drew their weapons while the staff fastened itself into Pit's hand.

"Wh-what's going on?" Vinnia asked nervously as she pulled her lance into a ready-to-fight position. Zephynn tried to back up further into his allies, and was clutching his sword tightly. Pit simply stared in awe at the water spouts. In the darkness, a figure formed. The second Vinnia saw it, she charged forward with a battle cry. The water was thrown at her suddenly though and she was knocked to the sand. As a result, she had sand all over her when she sat up.

"Hey!" she yelled. More water randomly flew from the ground at the three travelers. They were prevented from getting wet by Zephynn quickly acting to make a tornado of sand around them. Of course, that led to them having to close up their mouths and eyes so sand didn't get into them. The water suddenly destroyed the tornado and knocked all three of them to the ground. Now they were all sandy.

As they struggled to move from the gritty sand sticking to them, the figure moved closer, ever so slowly. Pit's eyes strained to see. The figure was a female, and she was definitely human. Her hands were raised in a mage-like position and Pit looked around to see that more water was forming. She appeared to be very fragile and small, but the way she walked was strong and wary. Her hair was hard to see in the darkness, but it was black and tied into a long braid that hung over her shoulder and down to her chest. Her eyes were blue. She wore a very light purple dress that was free to flow behind her as she walked. Her feet were bare.

"Hold your attacks," Pit warned the others. Vinnia heeded his warning, but did not put down her lance. Instead, she gripped it tighter. Zephynn's sword was already sheathed and he was staring at the girl in terrified silence.

"Who are you people?" she asked cautiously, "What are you doing here?" Her voice was beautiful, and it sang like the sea breeze. Pit took a few moments to reply, as he was still coming out of his thought process that he had been in before.

"I'm Pit," he said sincerely, and even somewhat blandly, "These are Vinnia and Zephynn. We need shelter for the night." The girl looked over them quietly and became fixated on their weapons for a few seconds before letting the water subside into the sand.

"You may call me Raven," she said lowering her arms, "Come with me to my town and I will shelter you." Pit looked among the two demigods. The staff didn't question anything and Pit stood up, dusting the sand off of his clothes. As soon as the other two were off the ground, they began the trek towards the village.

It was hard on them with all of the sand in their clothing. By the time they arrived in the town, the moon was up and the grittiness of their clothing was getting to them.

"You wouldn't happen to have a change of clothes would you?" Vinnia asked uncomfortably.

"That will be no problem at all," said Raven. There didn't seem to be anyone out so late at night. She led them towards a rather medium-sized hut and went inside. Once inside, they found that it was quite a fine living space. One side of the room was separated by a cloth hanging down from the ceiling and from what the group could see, it appeared as though a second ran down the middle behind that one. In the part of the room they were in, there was a simple metal stove on one side and a rug beneath their feet covering the sand.

"Zephynn may borrow one of my brother's outfits," said Raven, pointing towards the left side of the cloth, "I will let Vinnia borrow one of mine."

"Brother?" Pit questioned.

"You may get to see him tomorrow," said Raven, turning around to face them, "He is out at sea fishing right now." She then took Vinnia by the arm without warning and led her into the right side of the cloth. They disappeared behind it. Zephynn shrugged and went in the left. Pit waited in the part of the room they had entered. He began wiping off some of the gritty stuff from his clothing and he got it to the point where it didn't bother him as much. He would wash the rest of it off in the ocean the following day.

Eventually, they all came out again. Zephynn was first. He was now wearing black pants and a really light blue shirt. It was almost white. His sword was still strapped to his side. Vinnia and Raven came out a little later. Vinnia now wore a dress colored a deep crimson. Like Aria had, she now wore a belt around her waist. Pit happened to notice that she didn't have her lance on her. He figured it would have scared him, because she almost looked like Viridi now. She just needed a snazzier dress and plants growing all over her and she would be set. Pit almost laughed at the idea.

"You'll have to ditch your weapons before everyone wakes up," Raven said calmly, "This village does not believe in fighting."

"You sure don't seem to follow that rule," said Pit, acknowledging the fact that she had attacked them in the desert. Raven closed her eyes and responded calmly.

"It was necessary to keep you out because you had weapons," she said, "It was merely defense."

"That still doesn't clear things up," said Pit, "How are you able to do that with water anyways?" Raven looked him straight in the eye as though she didn't want to discuss it.

"I have connections," she said simply. She went behind the curtain. There was an awkward silence for a few more minutes. Then Pit spoke up.

"So… where do we sleep?" he asked.

"Wherever there isn't sand," Vinnia grumbled, "Some hospitality." They didn't really care anymore. They were just too tired. They allowed Vinnia to use Raven's brother's bed on the left side of the curtain while they slept on the rug. It was strange, but they drifted off quite easily.

* * *

The next morning, Raven woke them up early.

"Hide your weapons," she said, "The villagers will be waking up soon and they will arrest you if they find out." Pit figured that was what had happened to Vinnia's lance. Zephynn put his sword with Vinnia's lance, which had been cleverly hidden in a hole that seemed to be connected to the outside of the hut so that they could retrieve their weapons and leave whenever they felt like it. The staff was somewhat reluctant to let them put it under the sand.

"Are you sure about this?" it asked Pit nervously as the others left them to go outside.

"It'll be fine," Pit sighed, still quite exhausted from all of the thinking he had been doing in the last few days. The staff resisted Pit's motions to put it under the sand a few times until Pit told it, "You don't even need to breathe. Why are you so scared?"

"I-I don't know," the staff stuttered, "I'm just… afraid you'll leave me down there… yes, that's all."

"I'm not going to leave you down there," said Pit, "Without you, I have no defense. We'll be leaving soon anyways so you won't have to be down there for long." The staff finally let Pit put it under the sand and Pit pushed sand over the hole so that it was covered. Then he left the hut.

When he got outside, he found that Raven was introducing Vinnia and Zephynn to a young man just slightly taller than Pit. He couldn't be any less than sixteen years old and he had bright blonde hair, in contrast to Raven's black. His eyes were blue and he had a mischievous aura about him. His hair was a thick mess and it was a little overgrown, reaching halfway down his neck. He wore black pants that were cut off at the bottom so that he looked like a hobo and he had on a cobalt colored shirt, and his feet, as Raven's, were bare. Propped against his shoulder was a large fishing rod and at his side was a wicker basket that smelled of fish.

He seemed to notice Pit walk up.

"Ah, is this the angel?" he asked. Those who had been speaking to him turned around.

"Oh, yes," said Raven, turning back and nodding. The young man walked right up and shook Pit's hand.

"Great to meet you," he said enthusiastically, "I am quite intrigued by heavenly beings such as yourself. The name is Oscar. I'm Raven's brother." Pit nodded in acknowledgement and Oscar addressed the other three.

"I hope Raven didn't cause you three any trouble," he said, "She's quite good at that." Raven rolled her eyes at Oscar and he laughed heartily.

"Just kidding sis," he said, "Anyways, if Raven considers you guys friends then I do as well." Raven stepped forward.

"Oscar, we must speak in private," she said. Oscar smiled.

"Sure thing sis," he said putting a hand on her shoulder, "We'll catch you guys later." With that, he led Raven back inside the house, and Pit, Vinnia, and Zephynn were left to the rest of the awakening town.


	19. Escape

Chapter 19: Escape

Perhaps if Pit not been in the state he was in, he would have been like Vinnia, who noticed that the townspeople were shunning them with all they had. The villagers just gave a rude stare and avoided speaking to them. Whereas Zephynn was too absorbed in talking to the wind to care, and Pit was still in a depressive state, Vinnia found it offensive. At one point during the day, she asked Raven about the situation.

"I apologize for their unkindness," said Raven, underneath subtly unsympathetic, "I think they believe you three are a mercenary band that has been going around the world for almost three years now. You fit the description, and this village really doesn't like their methods or what they do. Heck, we don't like mercenaries altogether." Vinnia almost blew a fuse at the comment, realizing what she was talking about, but somehow managed to hold in her anger. She didn't want to make a fool out of herself in the middle of the village.

Thus, the day progressed. The three travelers were ignored at every moment they were in sight. Oscar and Raven were the only people in the village who gave the three of them any sort of notice, and even Oscar himself seemed to have hardened his glare at them, seeming unlike the cheerful and caring person he was in the morning.

As the sun began to set in the west, Vinnia found Zephynn on the beach staring at the sea.

"Hey," she said as she approached him from behind. Zephynn jumped and turned around, completely startled.

"V-Vinnia," he stuttered with fright, "What are you doing here?"

"I happened to see you staring into space by yourself and thought you would like company," Vinnia replied, crossing her arms. Zephynn hesitated to answer.

"Alright…" he sighed. Vinnia stood by his side as they stared at the ocean together. It was some time before they spoke again.

"So your mom's the west wind goddess," said Vinnia in confirmation.

"That's what I said," said Zephynn without breaking his stare, "And from what she's told me, she, Aunt Europa, and Viridi do not get along at all. Uncle Boreas is the only one who can really keep them all in check."

"Aunt Europa?" Vinnia asked in confusion, "Who's that?"

"East wind," Zephynn said simply. They were silent again.

"So why don't our parents like each other?" asked Vinnia.

"I have no clue," said Zephynn, throwing his arms in the air, "I was never able understand the problems that they quarreled over all the time, not even in the almost five hundred years I've lived. It's what's made me afraid… uh… afraid of…"

"Afraid of what?" asked Vinnia. Zephynn didn't speak.

"Never mind," said Zephynn, staring at the sand now. Vinnia thought she saw a little bit of red on his cheeks. Or maybe it was just the sun reflecting off of his face. Zephynn started the next conversation.

"The winds have been telling me that they are worried," said Zephynn, his voice suddenly lost.

"Why so?" asked Vinnia, "I haven't felt anything."

"You aren't as in tune to the winds as I am," said Zephynn, "No offense; your powers are awesome. But they've been telling me that they can't hold off much longer. Soon the desert will be overrun and destroyed. The land my uncle and Poseidon worked so hard to make peaceful and good… I think they worked a little too hard. That's probably why these people don't like weapons."

"I wouldn't be too worried about it," said Vinnia as she stretched, "This place stinks anyways, and those villagers are total jerks." Zephynn rolled his eyes.

"That's different," said Zephynn, "You didn't say that with the soldiers."

"You're such a nerd," said Vinnia, "And besides, what could happen way out here in the desert?" Out of nowhere, an explosion came from the direction of the village. They both turned around in surprise and saw smoke rising from it. They turned and looked at each other.

"You were saying?" said Zephynn. Vinnia rolled her eyes.

"Shut up," she said. With that, they both ran towards the village as fast as they could.

* * *

Pit had ducked for cover immediately after he saw the first bolt of purple energy. There were Monoeyes coming at the village. He hadn't been lucky enough to be close to Raven and Oscar's house when the attack had started however and as such, he was separated from the staff. The Monoeyes attacking the village didn't relent. Houses were being destroyed and Pit could hear screams of pain.

As soon as he got a clear shot, he dashed out of the house he had taken refuge in and towards the direction of the place where his weapon was. However, he was knocked to the ground by a purple energy bolt. He quickly jumped to his feet and shook off the pain and kept running. Not five feet from the house, he found himself stuck in the sand. He looked down and saw that he had stepped in yellow slime. Then it began to cover his legs and an eyeball within it was revealed at his feet. There was a burning sensation in his legs.

"Slimeclopses too!?" he said in surprise. He couldn't escape the Slimeclops's grasp and he began flailing when it got to his waist. Suddenly, the staff landed in his hand out of nowhere.

"Shoot it!" the staff yelled from his hand. Pit didn't hesitate and shot at the eye at his feet, and immediately, he was thrown back. The monster had melted in to the ground however. Pit suddenly couldn't stand either. He looked at his legs and saw that his skin had almost completely burned off. He cursed on the inside and noted the acidic qualities of the Slimeclopses, but that didn't help his case. He couldn't fight now. Luckily for him, Vinnia and Zephynn ran right by him and began attacking the enemies with their own weapons. It was hard for them, because they still didn't have all that much experience and couldn't attack long range like Pit, but they were doing pretty well, despite all of the bruises they had received.

As they fought their own battle with lance and sword, Pit found himself being surrounded by both parties of monsters, Monoeye and Slimeclopse alike. On the inside he wondered to himself, "_Why are they working together?_" As far as he knew, the Underworld had never had an enemy that looked like a blob of slime before. They all seemed to be preparing to fire and Pit braced himself.

"I am so dead…" he said to himself. He clutched the staff, hoping for a last ditch laser blast, but the staff did something entirely different. The second the enemies' attacks were released, Pit was covered by a wave of pink light and the attacks bounced off of him and back to their senders. The senders were thrown to the ground and vanished. Pit himself felt the searing pain in his legs go away, and then found that he could walk again suddenly. He looked down to see that his skin had returned and that everything was back to normal.

"Another skill…" he muttered in amazement, "Defensive healing." Another bolt of purple energy shot over Pit's head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it go through Oscar and Raven's house, and out of the corner of his other eye, he saw Vinnia and Zephynn getting taken down by extra reinforcements. Then, he made a decision he would regret for quite a while. He looked out into the distance in the desert. Heading straight for the village was a Cyclops not unlike the ones that had destroyed the military encampment.

Pit's mind went into a rush. He ran to go help Vinnia and Zephynn, and then to save Oscar and Raven, and then he wanted to run forward to destroy the Cyclops. But he did none of them. Instead, Oscar ran out of the house holding Raven by the arm.

"Pit!" he yelled, "Take my sister and get out of here!" Pit was shocked. Raven struggled to hold onto her brother, not wanting to leave.

"Please don't make me go!" she cried, "I can't allow you to die!"

"It's for the best," said Oscar, "I have to make sure you are safe. Father gave you your power for a reason, and I will see to it that that reason is fulfilled." Tears streamed from Raven's eyes. Oscar hugged her tightly.

"I love you," he said, "Now go!" Raven hesitated in leaving and Oscar nodded at Pit. Pit slowly nodded back. The Cyclops was closing in on the town. Vinnia and Zephynn were thrown on opposite sides of them by the attacks of the already present enemies.

"Come on you two!" Pit yelled, "We have to get out of here!" Zephynn didn't hesitate and ran to the east as his life depended on it. Pit grabbed Raven by the hand and started running as well. Vinnia took up the rear looking back to the Cyclops and silently cursing it. The Cyclops barreled into the village and began its destruction almost immediately after they had left. Not even Raven looked back after that.


	20. Another Yelling

Chapter 20: Another Yelling

Everyone had collapsed but Zephynn by the time the town was out of sight. They had run so far that the desert had turned into wasteland again. In the far distance, a lake could be seen further inland. However, the group didn't move just yet, as they were exhausted; again. Pit had fainted almost immediately after they'd stopped. Vinnia collapsed on the ground as well, while Raven audibly cried herself to sleep.

Zephynn almost stayed up all night, watching over the other three and the staff, which seemed to be talking to itself shakily. He almost got up the nerve to ask it what it was doing, but he decided against it. He fell asleep towards the beginning of the moon's vanishing into a lighter sky.

The staff itself, having learned a new skill, had recovered a rush of its memory. It kept itself busy all night with disturbing thoughts. It was certainly a strange and disturbing bunch of memories. This memory wave had caused it to remember that it knew Dark Pit somehow, and that they were not on bad terms. It also remembered something about a relationship between the dark angel and the blue-haired girl it had remembered before, whom his memories now dubbed Lilia. Those were the two biggies. Other things were not as huge in its mind, but it was disturbed by what memories it had recovered.

When everyone got up the next morning, nobody was in the mood to move. Pit just sat on the dirt and dead grass and stared at the ground. The ocean still ran along where they were at now. Raven stared at it with tears in her eyes. At one point, Zephynn thought he heard her say, "Father, how could this happen?"

Vinnia just wasn't in the mood to do anything at all, which was a first for her. She spent most of the morning stabbing at the air with her lance, and often grumbled to herself. The staff lay in Pit's lap most of the time, and continued to speak to itself.

Eventually, when the sun was high overhead them, the staff accidentally broke the ice with the words that it had been saying to itself for hours on end. It yelled out, almost painfully, "I know Dark Pit!" Everyone turned to it in surprise and even Pit was broken out of his depressive trance.

"What do you mean by that?" Pit asked blankly. The staff hesitated to answer, now realizing that all eyes were on it.

"I mean… I knew him in my past life, whatever that was," it said meekly, "And I think we were friends." Pit surprisingly shrugged it off and went back to staring at the ground. Vinnia gave it a suspicious look and went back to spearing the air, noticeably a lot more furious than before, while Raven just stared at the ocean again. That set Zephynn off.

In his mind he wondered how they all could just ignore something like that; such a valuable piece of information. On top of that, he could tell that everyone was moping in their own way, and he really didn't like that. He felt as though they had given up on both the mission they were on, and each other. As such he yelled out with all of his might.

"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?" he screamed. Everyone turned to him in surprise. Zephynn was fuming too much to notice the attention he was drawing.

"You guys are such wimps!" Zephynn yelled, "Even worse than me! Here you are moping just because of one loss! It's not the end of the world! You can't just give up! Any time now, those enemies are going to catch up with us and kill us! And if we're not ready for that, both physically and emotionally, we are going to get smoked! This is why I fight. I fight to keep myself alive. And if we don't work together, I'm going to die, because I can't take down anything on my own. And you'll all die too. This mission will sputter to a halt, and it'll be all over for the gods, wherever they are."

Everyone stared at him with their mouths dropped open. Zephynn calmed down a bit.

"I'm sad that evil is creeping into my uncle's realm…" he paused to look at Raven, "… and your father's realm. And I'm sorry about what happened to the village. But there's nothing we can do about if we don't help the gods out. If we quit now, everything will become a whole lot worse."

After Zephynn had calmed down, he immediately realized what he had just done and stared at the ground. Vinnia was the first to react. She thrust her lance at him. In surprise, Zephynn drew his sword and countered the strike.

"Vinnia…" he said in shock. Vinnia gave smirk.

"We can't be giving up now can we?" she asked. Zephynn nodded in understanding and they sparred for a little bit. Raven still seemed distant from the rest of the group, but she watched them fight with neutral content. Pit watched intently, and almost smiled for the first time in a few days. Just as they were about to stop, they heard a rumbling sound shaking the ground. The two demigods held their footing while Pit jumped up into battle mode. The staff didn't seem in the mood to fight, but it readied itself. Raven looked around with confusion.

Then, out of nowhere, two enormous, silver, mechanical bulls flew in between the two demigods and Pit, throwing everyone to the ground. The bulls screeched to a halt and the group saw, as they stood up, that they had been pulling a chariot, whose master had already jumped out to greet them.

"You all okay?" he asked. The man was seven and a half feet tall at the least and was extremely built up. His hands and feet were enormous, and had he been hairier, they might have mistaken him for Bigfoot. He wore ash colored pants and a torn and sweaty red shirt. A tool belt went around his waist. His hair was a rusty color and he had a long beard that hung down almost to his chest, which made him look like a hermit. His eyes added to that, as they were a very misty blue, so much that they almost melted into the whites of his eyes.

Even Pit was terrified by his features, and all four of them stared wide-eyed at the enormous man.

"I take that as yes," he said with a strange accent. It sounded like a cross between human and machine.

"Come," he said, gesturing towards his carriage, "I take you to home by lake. You fight good. I help you. Name is Forde. Pleasures." The four travelers looked between each other in confusion but nonetheless, they were exhausted and decided to trust the strange man and jumped into the carriage.


	21. The Workshop

Chapter 21: The Workshop

Forde took them to the lake they had seen in the distance just as he had said he would, and they found there that a cottage was sitting right on its banks. They got out of the chariot and Forde snapped his fingers, thus causing the vehicle to magically fold up on itself until it was a little teeny ball on the ground at their feet. Team Pit wasn't all that shocked, given some of the crazy things they'd seen on their adventure so far. Raven seemed a little weirded out, but it didn't come as much of a surprise to her.

What really shocked them was when they got in and Forde revealed to them a surprising secret of his.

"You seem trustable," he said as they were getting settled in the small cottage that he lived in, "I tell you secret of mine." As the group watched intently, Forde slowly reached for his right lower arm and grabbed onto it. Pit suddenly understood where he was going. Forde lifted his right lower arm right off of his body revealing wires and gears underneath.

"You're… a robot!" Vinnia said breathlessly. Forde nodded and replaced his wrist.

"Is so," he said, "My daddy is creator of me. But… daddy… disappear little bit ago…" Despite his being mechanical, tears welled up in his eyes; like, actually tears. Pit, again, understood before anyone else. There was only one who could create things so lifelike as this.

"You were created by Dyntos," he said. Forde nodded and the tears started spill out of his eyes.

"Daddy missing…" he cried softly as he sat down on the bed in the room. The group watched him curiously until he stood up and shook it off.

"No matter," he said, "I help you. Give weapons and I make better."

"Better…" said Vinnia, slowly drawing her lance.

"Yes, better," said Forde, "I am forger like daddy. Good with weapons. Inventions too." Pit looked between Vinnia and Zephynn, who had already pulled their weapons out, and Forde who was walking over to the wall so as to press a button hidden behind a curtain. The floor near Raven, who was standing in the far corner of the room, opened up.

"Come," said Forde as he began descending the stairs. The group looked between each other and descended the stairs after Forde.

* * *

What they found downstairs was amazing. There was a huge basement filled with tools and things needed to make weapons and machinery. On top of that, huge pieces of machinery of all types, from huge metal paddles hitting enormous ping pong balls back and forth to solid metal horses that raced around tracks littered the entire basement. Vinnia and Raven gaped in shock and amazement; they had never been exposed to anything like what they were seeing. Zephynn seemed less surprised, and Pit assumed that in the nearly five hundred years he had lived, he had seen stuff like this.

"Welcome to workshop!" Forde yelled over the noisy working machinery all around them. He opened up his left lower arm, which revealed numerous buttons that he pressed. One by one, the different machines shut off.

"You made all of this stuff?" Vinnia asked in amazement.

"Of course," said Forde proudly, "I have great skill from daddy." He brought them over to a large forge that was lined with weapons that were either broken or unfinished. Energy flew through Pit's laurels. Many of the weapons were angelic and had intense power. He could see Raven backing away in terror from the forge, wide-eyed at the number of weapons she was registering.

"Forge," said Forde proudly, "Make weapons with it. Upgrade too. And fix! And make! ... no, already said make." He turned around to the party of four. Raven was quite a distance from the group now. Forde didn't seem to notice.

"So, I upgrade weapons of yours," said Forde, "Powerful results I assure." Vinnia and Zephynn looked between each other. The Somewhat Staff had sent Pit a telepathic message much earlier on telling him that if he even tried handing it over to Forde to get worked with, it would be shooting Pit straight through the heart, whether he was important to the mission or not. The threat had worked on Pit pretty well.

The lance and sword were slowly handed over to Forde, who inspected them. Then his eyes lit up.

"I upgrade and suggest to daddy!" he said, "No magic weapons made like these before!" He put them on the forge and pulled out an enormous toolbox from underneath it.

"You stay in my house for now," said Forde, turning his head around 180 degrees, which totally creeped Vinnia out, "I call you when done." And he returned to his work.

* * *

The three of them decided to heed his words and walked out of the enormous basement together. Pit still separated himself from the others. Raven was already waiting for them upstairs, and she was actually shaking from her experience in the basement. She did herself a favor and closed the door to the basement so that she wouldn't have to see it opened up, as it reminded her of what all she had just seen. Pit didn't mind, and neither did the staff apparently. It was too busy obsessing over its own thoughts.

Vinnia happened to step outside at the same time as Zephynn. In reality, Vinnia had signaled him to meet her outside for a conversation. And so, they stood by the lake, which was about a hundred feet from the cottage, in silence for a few minutes before Vinnia spoke.

"I've been thinking about what you said earlier about us not working as a team," she said, "I think you're right."

"About time you guys start listening to me," said Zephynn with a sigh. Vinnia folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Honestly Zephynn, it's like you want me to hurt you," she said in annoyance. She settled herself.

"Anyways, I really think we need to start taking Pit's whole depression ordeal seriously," she said, "He has to come out of that. Raven needs to be integrated into this team too, because she's going to be with us for a while."

"Sounds like a plan," said Zephynn with a light smile.

"Great!" Vinnia exclaimed, "I'll give you the easy work; you can bring Pit back out of his shell. I'll try to get closer to Raven in a friendly way."

"How am I supposed to do that?" asked Zephynn.

"Think of something," said Vinnia, "It'll help."

"That's very useful advice," said Zephynn sarcastically, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," said Vinnia. Before Zephynn could smile, a fist hit his arm.

"Ouch!" he yelped, "What was that for?"

"Being stupid," said Vinnia with a smirk. Zephynn rolled his eyes. Then a thought came to his mind.

"Why were you so down in the dumps after we got out of that village?" asked Zephynn. Vinnia's face turned a little sorrowful.

"I felt like it was my fault," said Vinnia.

"Why so?" asked Zephynn, "Nothing was your fault in that battle." Vinnia shook her head.

"I jinxed it," she said, "You even heard me." Zephynn put a hand on Vinnia's shoulder.

"Vinnia, there are no such things as jinxes," said Zephynn, "Pull your head out of that idea right now. That stuff only happens in stupid old scary stories." He was actually kind of surprised that Vinnia didn't react to him putting his hand on her. His surprise was short lived because she pushed him off seconds later.

"I'll think about that," said Vinnia, looking him directly in the eye. Then she walked back towards the cottage, leaving Zephynn to return his gaze to the lake. The friendly moment was over, but he could tell it had left a profound impact. Then he returned to the cottage under the beautiful sunset in the west and smiled to himself.

"Those monsters will never destroy the beauty of the sunset…" he said to himself with a sense of content. Then he entered the cottage and shut the door behind him.


	22. Team Building

Chapter 22: Team Building

Zephynn caught Pit staring out across the lake the next morning. The staff wasn't with him and he seemed to be in deep thought. Slowly, Zephynn began to approach him, but Pit turned to look at him suddenly. Zephynn flinched.

"Don't be afraid," said Pit, a blank stare in his eyes, "I don't mind being bothered." Zephynn slowly approached the angel, cautious at the stare that Pit was giving him. When it seemed clear that Pit wasn't going to hurt him in any way, he stood looking out to the lake with Pit, not knowing what exactly they were staring at.

"So… what's up?" asked Zephynn, trying to break the silence as they stood there awkwardly.

"Nothing," said Pit, "Nothing at all." Zephynn frowned.

"Really? There's nothing going on inside your head right now?" he asked in confusion. Pit sighed.

"Nothing," he repeated, "There's nothing at all."

"So… you've got nothing?" asked Zephynn.

"Nothing at all," Pit repeated again. By now Zephynn was beginning to lose his patience.

"You have to be thinking of something," he said determinately, "And I'm going to find out what it is." Pit didn't even respond to his words. He only stared across the calm surface of the lake.

"So what is it that's going on in your head right now?" Zephynn asked. Pit took a few minutes to respond.

"There is nothing…" he said with a sigh. Zephynn almost gave up, but then he realized that Pit seemed to be really, really out of it. He waved his hand in front of Pit's face but the angel didn't respond. He simply stared.

"Geez," said Zephynn, stepping away from Pit, "He's really deep in thought. No wonder he thinks there's nothing going on. He must be unconscious or something." He shook Pit this time, and the angel responded to the shaking a little before fully snapping out of the trance that he was in. He shook his head.

"What… happened?" Pit asked groggily.

"Are you okay?" asked Zephynn with concern. Pit shook his head again and adjusted his laurels.

"I guess so," said Pit, "I just remember coming out here and then staring at the lake. Everything's blank after that until you woke me up."

"So you fell asleep standing up?" Zephynn asked. He noticed red blotches under Pit's eyes.

"Yeah, I guess so," said Pit. Zephynn watched as Pit returned his focus to the lake. He didn't let the conversation get dropped.

"You clearly didn't hear me yesterday," said Zephynn solemnly, "Quit moping already. It's not going to do you any good."

"You say that but it doesn't change the fact that I've failed to protect people on multiple occasions," said Pit without breaking his gaze at the lake.

"You're missing the point," said Zephynn, "Accept it Pit. You know that you can't change anything so just let it pass. Things will get better."

"You don't know that," said Pit, still not turning to him. Zephynn thought to himself for a few seconds.

"Maybe I don't," he said finally, "But the way I'm thinking right now, it's a lot more positive than you are." Pit was silent. Zephynn continued.

"Whether you believe it or not, I knew you existed before I met you," he said, "I used to hear from my mom and Viridi all the time of the things you'd done. They made you sound bad, but the way you were described by Viridi… your personality, what you did… I thought you were totally different, the exact opposite of what you are now." Pit seemed to contemplate Zephynn's words. Then he spoke up.

"You know, you're right," said Pit, turning towards Zephynn, "What happened to me?"

"I don't know," said Zephynn breaking into a grin, "What did happen to you?" Pit slapped Zephynn on the back and smiled.

"So I guess that means you're back to normal?" Zephynn said.

"You could say that," said Pit, "Thanks for reminding me of who I am."

"Heh, no problem," said Zephynn as they walked back to the cabin.

* * *

At the same time, Vinnia was trying to engage in conversation with Raven, who was being her now usual self; that is reclusive. Raven continuously avoided Vinnia's attempts to talk, and eventually, she became so annoyed with it that she yelled.

"Will you please leave me alone!?" Raven yelled. Vinnia flinched at this. Raven turned her back to Vinnia as she sat on the bed.

"Geez, sorry," said Vinnia, "I didn't mean to get on your bad side."

"What do you care about me?" Raven asked bitterly as she laid her head down on the bed, "You only care about fighting and killing."

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Vinnia sighed, "I have killed someone before, and I will admit it. But to me, that felt so awful. I've come to realize that I don't like killing people. I will fight willingly, but I try not to kill; unless it's a monster of course." Raven stared at Vinnia coldly.

"Why are you so willing to fight?" Raven asked, "And that with terrible weapons such as the ones you use?"

"I guess I get it from my mom," said Vinnia with a sigh, "I've heard that Viridi is quite a hothead. I'm probably the same. But it wasn't until after I started travelling with these two that that personality came out. And the reason I fight with my lance is because that's all I've got. I have special powers too, but I can't abuse them like you can."

"Abuse is a strong word," Raven muttered.

"Whatever," said Vinnia rolling her eyes, "Why didn't your village like weapons at all?" Raven looked up at Vinnia seemingly about to cry.

"Sorry, I guess that was a touchy subject," said Vinnia quickly, "You don't have to…"

"No, it's fine," said Raven, wiping away a few tears that had made their way out of her eyes, "We didn't like weapons because… because it was so peaceful. We didn't think anything would happen, yet we all feared that someone would come along and disturb the peace. So we tried to keep weapon wielders out."

"Why not us then?" asked Vinnia, "Why didn't you keep us from coming in?"

"I tried," said Raven in response, "You know I did. I did what I had to do to prevent your entry into our town. But I failed. My feelings overcame me. I couldn't just leave you stranded in the middle of the desert. You all looked so distraught." Vinnia nodded in understanding. Then she stood up and walked over so as to sit next to Raven.

"How old are you?" she asked gently.

"Thirteen," said Raven immediately.

"Younger than I am," said Vinnia. She took Raven's hand and pulled her into a sitting position, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Now Raven," she said, "You are aware that you will be travelling with us for a while now." Raven nodded slowly.

"So, you're going to have to get over that intolerance towards weapons and start talking to us when you have problems," said Vinnia, "Trust me, except for Zephynn, everyone on this team is really nice." She meant the last part as a joke, but Raven didn't seem to get it.

"I didn't exactly agree to this…" said Raven hesitantly.

"What other choice do you have?" asked Vinnia, "You can either come with us or stay here with weapon crazy robot guy." Raven looked at her blankly.

"Also, I'm pretty sure you're a demigod because no one I know could possibly have that much power over water," said Vinnia, "Daughter of Poseidon right?" Raven nodded quickly.

"So, you probably noticed that your dad's been sort of… silent right?" asked Vinnia.

"I guess…" said Raven, "When… when my…" She stopped mid-sentence, shook off a few tears and continued. "When he came back from fishing, he told me about the emptiness he felt. Catching the fish he did catch was much more difficult than usual. And even before that…"

"Exactly," Vinnia interrupted, "And do you know what our quest is? To find and rescue the gods! So you have just as much motivation as Zephynn and I to come on this quest." Raven seemed confused.

"Sorry if I'm rushing you," said Vinnia gently, "Do you need anything explained?"

"Yeah," she said, fright creeping in her voice, "What has your journey been like so far?" Vinnia hesitated to tell her the truth about the journey, but she belted it out as quickly as possible.

"Well…" Raven tried to say when she had finished. Vinnia interrupted her.

"Even though it's been rough, we've pulled through," said Vinnia, "Largely thanks to Zephynn. He's like the glue that holds the team together. He's really nice to be around once you've dealt with him for a while. Well… okay, so maybe that's only half-true…"

"He seems like a really timid person," said Raven, trying to get in on the conversation a little.

"He is," said Vinnia, "Oh, and don't tell him I said this, but he's actually almost 500 years old." Raven's eyes went wide.

"Really!?" she said in shock, "How did that happen?" Vinnia went into Zephynn's history, and eventually ended up talking about her own. Then, the girls diverted from the topic of history all together and began discussing their special powers. Vinnia demonstrated her control over plants while Raven explained her infinite water abilities. They had been granted by her father after he had predicted that she would perform a great role in a coming legacy.

Finally, Raven cracked a smile.

"Perhaps travelling with you people won't be as bad as I thought," she said, "You seem really nice."

"Remember though, that fear of weapons is going to have to go down the drain," said Vinnia, "It's just a forewarning but people out in the world are not nice and monsters are roaming. It's not like living in a peaceful village." Raven nodded.

"I trust you guys, and I'll do what I can," she said confidently. At that moment, the door opened up and admitted Zephynn and Pit, who were chatting about Pit's previous adventures.

"That's so awesome!" Zephynn exclaimed as the door was shut behind them, "You destroyed Viridi's whole bomb factory?"

"My mom had a bomb factory?" Vinnia asked making a sour face.

"You better believe it," said Pit proudly, "And I destroyed it myself." Vinnia saw the light in Pit's eyes again, the same light that had embodied him until he had been destroyed by Dark Pit. Zephynn had succeeded.

Out of nowhere, a vine shot out of the ground and grabbed Pit's leg, swinging him around and then slamming him on the couch on the opposite side of the room.

"Owww…" he moaned, "What was that for?"

"What?" said Vinnia with a small chuckle, "I can't take revenge for my mom?" Everyone laughed, even Raven. At that moment, the floor where the workshop was concealed opened up and Forde walked out of it.

"They are done!" he exclaimed gleefully.


	23. A New Threat

Chapter 23: A New Threat

Zephynn's newly upgraded sword balanced in his hand even more easily than it had before. It felt very light, but as Zephynn swung it around, he found it easy to wield. It did not fly from his hand. Zephynn also felt special power emanating from the blade, that which he could already use; that is, wind. It was colored a radiant cyan color, and shaped so that the blade curved slightly as it went along to the tip; the blade itself was so sharp that Raven wasn't the only one who flinched when they saw it.

Vinnia's lance had become much pointier at its end. On top of that, two points had been added pointing out diagonal from the middle point. Two long, extendable ribbons hung from the points, and despite the fact that most would find them a hindrance, Vinnia liked them, particularly because they were made of softened wood rather than fabric. Thus, she could control them with her power over nature, giving her even more methods to attack with the lance.

"These weapons are special," said Forde with a note of caution in his voice, "Very special indeed. You must be careful. They made of both human and godly material. May hinder you."

"Hinder…" said Vinnia as she looked up and down her lance.

"Yes," said Forde, "Demigods have limit to how much godly power they use. Good thing is, the human side of these makes limit very small." He moved over to his forge and took a Hewdraw Blade down after a little bit of decision.

"Sword wielder, step forward," said Forde as he moved the blade into a ready stance. Zephynn hesitated a little but stepped in front of his friends. Forde suddenly charged forward at him and swung the Hewdraw Blade down. Zephynn panicked and instinctively swung his sword to counter. The blade and the sword clashed. Zephynn quickly rolled out of the way of the Hewdraw Blade's range and Forde's weapon slammed into the ground, causing Pit, Vinnia and Raven to jump back. Raven clung to Vinnia in fear and hid her face.

Zephynn went on the offensive immediately after he dodged the first blow. He ran at Forde and jumped up so as to hit him in the chest (because Forde was of course seven feet at the least, much taller than Zephynn), but Forde countered the blow and sent Zephynn flying. Zephynn slid across the floor of the workshop and immediately got up when he stopped, using the momentum from the slide to do so. A fire was in his eyes. His inner warrior was beginning to come out.

Zephynn spun around gathering wind power to his sword and fired it by slashing vertically. A sharp sword beam made of wind flew at Forde. Forde blocked it with his blade and responded with a few shots from afar. Zephynn replied to this by slashing the shots away one by one, gradually moving closer to the automaton as he did.

The blade began to feel as though it belonged in his hands. Zephynn was quickly adapting to his new sword. As he came close enough to strike, he realized how much easier it was to wield this new blade than it was the previous one. He fired another sword beam at Forde, slashing through three more shots and knocking the automaton backwards without a scratch.

"Excellent!" Forde said, clapping his hands and throwing the Hewdraw Blade back over to the forge, "Next the lance girl!" Vinnia let Raven go as she watched Forde pick a Laser Staff from his forge.

"Remember what we talked about," Vinnia whispered before she entered the field of battle. Raven nodded timidly and watched as she walked out to face Forde.

He didn't wait for her to get ready. He fired a shot directly at her immediately, which she almost dodged. Instead, she stabbed the shot with her lance. To her utmost shock, it worked and the shot was deflected to the ceiling above. She wasted no time charging at Forde dodging the shots he fired at her.

She noticed he was aiming at her feet, and ordered the ribbons to push against the ground so as to bounce her up. They did, and she was sent flying through the air at Forde. She stabbed her lance forward and a short beam of red light flew out of it from the tip. Forde blocked the shot and she came down on him, hitting the Laser Staff with her lance. She was thrown back to the floor but she landed on both feet.

Then she charged at Forde again. Forde anticipated another long range attack, but what he got was a ribbon tied around his legs, pulling his feet out from under him and causing him to tumble to the ground. Vinnia withdrew the ribbon to its normal length on the lance.

"Never shoot at my friends deliberately," she said fiercely as she pounded the butt of her lance against the floor of the workshop.

"Sorry," Forde mumbled as he got up, "Just a test." Vinnia crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, a smile returning to her face.

"I should be apologizing to you," said Vinnia, "I used that shot as my motivation." They shook hands and then returned to the others.

"Well then, you all ready to go now," said Forde as they walked towards the stairs leading out of the workshop, "I wish you luck on your quest. Find Daddy please." Pit nodded.

"Will do," he said. As they entered the cottage again, Pit picked up the Somewhat Staff from the nightstand near the opening where it had been resting for the entire time they were at Forde's. It was still mumbling to itself distraughtly. Before Pit could ask it what it kept talking about, Forde caught all four of them in a bear hug.

"You all friends!" he exclaimed, "I miss you. We meet again someday!" With that remark, the group began filing out the door, Pit and Raven in the front, and Zephynn and Vinnia bringing up the rear.

"You two," said Forde. Vinnia and Zephynn turned.

"You become great warriors in the future," said Forde, "I know it. And great warriors give names to weapons of theirs. Think about it. They the first of their kind." Vinnia and Zephynn looked at each other and blinked but nodded to show that they understood Forde's advice.

"Good," said Forde, "Off you go! No need for thanks!" And the door shut behind them.

* * *

They chose to continue travelling east. Zephynn informed them that the winds seemed to have fallen silent in the north, which was not a good sign. If they had fallen silent, it meant that Boreas's remaining forces had lost. Zephynn even proved it to the group by trying to take control of a passing wind. He had a hard time making it do what he wanted it to do. Finally, after they had been travelling for a little while, they stopped to rest and Zephynn felt the passing winds. They were crazed, confused, and distraught.

"Things are getting worse," said Zephynn to the rest of the group, "We have to keep our guard up." Out of nowhere, a bolt of dark purple energy flew between Pit and Zephynn, and Vinnia and Raven. Three more followed in rapid succession. Vinnia deflected one with her lance while Zephynn countered the other two with his sword. Another flew at them, this one homing towards Raven. Vinnia jumped in its way immediately as she saw its target and shot it out of the air with her lance's long range attack.

A dark figure appeared in the light of the day to their north. As it got closer, it revealed itself as a black clothed woman wearing a black cloak and a mask. Everything about her was dark, including her weapon, which was a Darkness Bow. Only her hair, a wavy red mass that hung down to her waist, deviated from the darkness pattern. However, it was more crimson than red, giving it the color of blood.

"Wh-who are you?" asked Zephynn warily as he brought his sword into a battle position.

"That is none of your concern," the woman said, looking them all dead in the eye. Her whole face was covered by the mask and her Darkness Bow was coming into position to fire again. However, Pit made the first move. He fired a charge shot at the woman, who cancelled it with her own. Then he ran at her, evading purple bolts of energy and preparing to shoot again at close range. One of the dark arrows almost caught him in the shoulder, but he rolled under it, jumped to his feet, and fired.

The woman was thrown back from the charge shot blast. Pit wasted no time putting the staff against her stomach.

"I'll only ask this once," said Pit threateningly, "Who the heck are you?" The woman's expression was impossible to see behind her mask, but she spoke.

"I am a human," she said slyly.

"Impossible," said Pit, "You wield an angelic weapon. Unless you were empowered in some way…"

"Oh but I am," she said, interrupting him, "A very powerful god granted me these powers."

"Then why do you still have access to them?" Pit asked, "The gods are missing, and all powers granted by them should have no effect."

"You are a fool," she said indignantly. Out of nowhere, Pit was pushed out of the way and the woman was stabbed through the chest. Pit caught his balance and saw Vinnia standing over the now dead woman, cleaning the tip of her lance.

"Vinnia!" he cried, "What did you do that for?"

"Well you weren't going to kill her anytime soon," said Vinnia, barely looking up from cleaning the lance. Pit shook his head.

"I wasn't done with her yet," said Pit.

"Doesn't matter," said Vinnia, looking up from her lance, "She's dead now. Let's go." Pit almost blew a fuse. Thankfully, Zephynn stepped in between as they left the site of the short battle.

"Don't mind her Pit," said Zephynn as they began walking again, "You should know her by now."

"Yeah, but we could have learned more from that woman," said Pit, "She knew something that was important to us; I just know it."


	24. Whisked Away

Chapter 24: Whisked Away

The group camped out on the beach that night. Raven had salvaged some fish from the now destroyed village before they had left. They cooked them over a fire and ate. Then they lied down on the sand, which was quite comfortable in this area of the shoreline. From where they were, they could see a river in the distance to the south. They had travelled slowly after the fight with the black clothed woman, so Forde's house was still a speck in the distance.

As they lay on the sand, trying to sleep, Pit heard the Somewhat Staff talking to itself.

"Who am I?" it asked itself in a terrified tone, "Why am I here? What are these memories that I now know?" Pit decided not to question the staff's rambling since it had made its memories pretty clear to him already. However, what he didn't know was that the staff was remembering things at an alarming rate.

In the staff's mind in its soul, it remembered and remembered and remembered. It began believing in its masculinity; he had definitely been male in his past life. He remembered things that he never would have thought. He knew of times he had with the Lilia character in his memory and Dark Pit, whom he was questioning in his mind; why was he fighting the dark angel?

Another memory had also come to him. It was tragic. He remembered how he had died in his past life. He had been in an attack by Reapers and other Underworlders and was killed in his own hometown. There was something else in there that was significant, but it was quite blurry and he didn't bother delving into further. His mind hurt too much already, so much that he wasn't able to resist anything that touched whatever senses he had.

He rambled on to itself into the night, often saying things over and over again to himself and shifting topic constantly until one might have found him insane. Then, a screech ripped through the night.

While the staff kept on rambling, cut off from the outside world, the three demigods and Pit shot up off of the sand, grabbing their arms and readying for battle. Another screech ripped the darkness and out of nowhere, Pit was smashed by something into the sand. Zephynn fired a sword beam in that direction, but then a scythe came over his head and almost hit him. Vinnia saw it and grabbed it with one of her ribbons. It flew from its wielder's hand, and twenty red eyes suddenly glowed in the darkness.

Zephynn helped Pit up and the angel looked around in terror.

"Reapers," he said under his breath, "Ten of them." This was a nightmare in full. Pit had faced three of them at once before, and they were not fun guys. As a matter of fact, they hurt badly. Facing ten was suicide.

"Guys, we have to surrender now," said Pit in a cautious tone, "We can't possibly defeat them."

"We can and we will!" Vinnia said through gritted teeth. The ten Reapers had them surrounded. Pit prepared to fire a shot, but the Reapers were so close that it would be a dangerous action; it might damage them as well. They backed into each other. Raven was cowering behind Vinnia's back, and Vinnia couldn't seem to push back the monsters with her lance. Zephynn's heart was pounding but he did his best not to look weak, though it wasn't easy since he was shaking.

The Reapers drew closer. They seemed to realize that the team wasn't going to attack, mostly out of fear and shock. So they screeched again. The team covered their ears. Out of nowhere, Monoeyes, Miks, Specknoses and other Underworlders appeared in droves from every direction. Pit couldn't even count them all, and even if he could, he wouldn't have, because the Reapers hit each of the travelers over the head with the back of their scythes. The darkness settled in as they all fell unconscious.

* * *

They somehow all awoke at the same time. They were in separate cages in a semi-large room. Pit's cage hung from the ceiling in the corner while Vinnia and Zephynn's were on opposite sides, Vinnia on Pit's wall, and Zephynn on the other. Raven's was sitting right in the middle. The walls were black and the only other things in the room were a table with their weapons on it, and a strange looking monster for a guard.

The monster was a Cyclops of some sort. However, it wasn't exactly like any of the Cyclops the team had seen before. This one was red, and had literally fiery hair. Other than that, it was all the same; ugly and brutal looking. It was also asleep.

Pit noticed that they had all woken up and put a finger to his lips at a point where they could all see it. He got nods as confirmation and then pointed at Raven, slowly moving his finger to the weapon table. Raven pointed a finger at herself in disbelief but Pit nodded.

Raven closed her eyes and did what she normally did when she wanted to summon water. She envisioned it washing around the room and then imagined it under her control. When she opened her eyes, there were five water fountains surrounding her. She melted them into the ground and split them around the fiery Cyclops. Then she washed them over the table and gathered the weapons within the water.

She moved the water towards Zephynn first, to her right, and dropped the sword right next to the cage. Zephynn pulled it through and gave a thumbs up. She moved the other two to the other side of the room as Zephynn spun the sword in his hand, gathering wind power, and slammed it into the bars. It sliced right through and the bars fell out. He slid out of the cage and quickly ran over to Raven's. He slashed through the lock and the door fell open. Raven stepped out as he broke the lock on Vinnia's cage, and she shot a beam from her lance through the chain holding Pit's, whose cage fell to the ground and shattered. Pit emerged from the wreck unharmed.

Unfortunately for them, their escape antics had woken the fiery Cyclops up. They armed themselves quickly and prepared for a fight. However, the fiery Cyclops didn't even turn around. It ran into the wall in confusion due to crash caused by Pit's cage five seconds before. Because of this, it fell to the ground unconscious. Raven took her water hesitantly and splashed it on the Cyclops' head. The fire was doused and the Cyclops twitched. Vinnia then jumped up onto the Cyclops' head and stabbed it in the eye with her lance. She jumped off and it disintegrated into dust.

"Well, that was easier than I'd thought," said Vinnia, "Now what say we get out of here?"

* * *

As they ran through wherever they were, which was a very cavernous area after they had left the room, enemies swarmed them, but this time, they were the ones who were surprised. The four of them worked like a well-oiled machine. Raven surrounded them with a three foot thick water force-field that moved with them. This made the enemies have to slow down as they tried to attack the team, which meant an easier time for the three people wielding weapons. The enemies didn't stand a chance.

Eventually, they found their way out of wherever they were and found that it had in fact been a cave that

opened up to an isolated cliff overlooking an immense mountain range. Bright daylight shined down on them.

"Crud, now how do we get out of here?" asked Pit. More enemies approached them from behind.

"We're going to have to jump," said Vinnia decidedly, "And it may require getting a little wet, but oh well." Raven understood and the enemies burst from the cave. At the same moment, the team jumped off of the cliff. There was a clamor above them and a long way to the next peak down, because the range was that tall. Raven focused her power again and four water jets came up and caught all of them. They were lowered down slowly until they found themselves on a more open cliff that had a few exits from it.

Zephynn managed to take control of the winds (with some difficulty, which meant they were still in the north) and dry them off quickly. Then they rested for a little bit before Pit's eyes lit up out of nowhere.

"Oh no…" he said to himself. Something in his mind had told him news he didn't want to know. Dark Pit was very, very nearby.

"Keep your guard up guys," said Pit warily raising the staff, who seemed to have ignored everything that had just happened in obsessing over himself, "_They're _near…" The emphasis he put on the word they're made what he was talking about obvious to Zephynn and Vinnia, who quickly explained to Raven what was going on so that she wouldn't be surprised if the group suddenly attacked.

"Those no good rotten mercenaries…" Raven mumbled.

"They'll pay for what they did last time!" Vinnia fumed.

"What do we do?" asked Zephynn.

"We need to figure out where exactly they are," said Pit, "And perhaps then _we_ will have the element of surprise."


	25. Combat

Chapter 25: Combat

The group walked down the twisted slope of the mountain, getting lower and lower as they went along. They found themselves at the foot of the range in a large valley with two exits; one about a mile away to the east, in front of them, and the other to the north, which was two their left. They chose to take the north path, not only because it was shorter, but because Pit felt that Dark Pit was closer going that way.

They turned to the north and walked out of the valley, immediately ducking into the foliage as they scoped out the area in front of them. It was a beautiful area that changed to a different terrain just about every fifty feet if not longer, from forest, to grassy field, to beach, to ocean. And Dark Pit was sitting there on the grass, about fifty feet from the forest, halfway between the forest and the beach.

"Do we still have the element of surprise?" asked Zephynn quietly. Pit didn't answer, as he was looking around the area for someone else. Aria could not be seen, nor Magnus and Gaol.

"Are they all hiding as well?" Pit whispered under his breath. He took another look around, sure that Magnus and Gaol would at least be present near Dark Pit, but he couldn't find them. Dark Pit seemed as though he hadn't detected them as he was sitting on the grass, eyes shut tight and seemingly meditating on something. Pit figured instantly that he was looking for them and gestured for his companions to follow him.

They moved through the foliage silently and hid behind a large rock near to the mountain. Pit continued to scope out the area, still finding no sign of Magnus and Gaol. It began to make him wonder if they were even anywhere near the location.

"Where are they?" asked Pit.

"Who? The other two imbeciles?" asked Vinnia, who had already drawn her lance and was brandishing it, "Who cares? The less there are, the better chance we have of screwing that fool." Suddenly, there was a shock in his mind. He heard something deep within his mind that hit him as though someone was speaking to him. It was a voice; the voice of Dark Pit.

"_I'm alone, come face me,_" it said telepathically. Pit went into shock for less than a second and his companions looked at him worriedly.

"Are you alright?" asked Zephynn.

"I'm fine," said Pit, rubbing his head, "I think Dark Pit just sent me a challenge."

"How?" asked Vinnia, gripping her lance.

"Telepathy," said Pit, "Wait here. This is my fight." He was about to leave the hiding spot and confront his rival, but then he felt Vinnia's lance suddenly come up around his neck. The left blade on the tip touched his gullet.

"This isn't just your fight," said Vinnia, almost threateningly, "We didn't come all this way to sit on the sidelines again. When I said no more duels, I meant it." Pit understood that there was no turning her away and he looked at the other two. Raven looked extremely reluctant but a few quick glances at Vinnia made her show her readiness to fight. Zephynn had his hand on his sword hilt and was prepared to draw it at command.

"Let's do this," said Pit as he twirled the staff expertly in his hand. Pit stepped out from behind the rock, still hidden in the foliage and took aim at the now standing Dark Pit, who was already preparing his blade for battle. He gritted his teeth and then charged forward. The staff hindered him only slightly and jumped forward, firing the staff's forward charge shot and rolling back to his feet.

The trees in the way splintered in the face of the shot and when Pit was able to see again, he saw that Dark Pit had dodged the shot and was literally only two feet from striking him in the chest. Pit blocked the stab with the staff hand pushed back with all of his might, unleashing a barrage of melee strikes. Dark Pit parried and then jumped back, brandishing his weapon again.

"Hello again," said Dark Pit calmly.

"Hello yourself," said Pit through still gritted teeth, "This time things will be different."

"Ooh, someone's got fire," said Dark Pit mockingly, "I must have really done a number on you for you to be so aggressive." Pit didn't even have time to respond because at that moment, a blast of wind came from behind him, grazing the top of his head and heading directly at Dark Pit. Zephynn landed on the ground a few feet behind Dark Pit, readying his sword for another attack. Vinnia was close behind him. The strike had had no effect on Dark Pit, as it was absorbed into his sword easily.

"Stupid wind abilities…" Pit muttered inaudibly. Zephynn seemed a little surprised but he didn't have long for that to stay. The next few second were an extreme blur. Dark Pit charged backwards and attacked Zephynn with everything he had. Zephynn, entirely surprised, tried to counter but he was knocked back by Dark Pit's wind, which he was surprised he couldn't counter. He figured that as a wind user, he would be able to control it, but there was a something about it that overpowered him.

In the meantime (the previously explained events had happened in a matter of seconds), Vinnia was charging, with her lance ready to stab Dark Pit in the back. Dark Pit apparently sensed her and knocked Zephynn to the ground with a blast of wind. Then he turned and didn't even aim for a block, instead stepping to the side and allowing Vinnia's stab to hit the air. Then Vinnia felt the slam of Dark Pit's blade flat on her face and she was thrown to the ground.

Though in a daze, Vinnia managed to get up, and as her vision cleared, she saw Zephynn and Pit both charging the dark angel from opposite sides. Dark Pit only smirked and let them draw in close, then unleashing the Power of Flight. Pit almost had no time to react and was barely able to slide under Zephynn's sword as it came at him by pure accident.

"Sorry!" Zephynn yelled. Pit wasn't paying attention to the apology. He was too busy getting back onto his feet to combat Dark Pit, who he had seen sight Raven behind the rock that she had stayed behind. Dark Pit had been staring for only a few seconds; it was just enough to make Pit believe that she was his next target, as it was quite clear that she was unarmed in the position she was in.

Pit charged at Dark Pit's back but the dark angel's reflexes were quick and he stepped out of the way, causing Pit to fumble and lose his balance as he tumbled over his feet and rolled about ten feet down the beach. Pit stumbled to his feet and turned around, seeing that Dark Pit was charging something at the tip of his blade, which was pointed at him. He instantly assumed charge shot, and wasn't all that surprised considering what else had been added to Dark Pit's weapon. He knew that he wouldn't be hit, because he saw Vinnia and Zephynn charging at Dark Pit from the back. Dark Pit smirked, and Vinnia sent one of the ribbons on her lance flying towards Dark Pit's sword arm, thus causing it to lose its balance and send the shot flying.

Dark Pit immediately responded by jerking the lance out of Vinnia's hand via the wood ribbon that had hit him and throwing it over his shoulder, almost hitting Pit in the foot. Zephynn then tried to knock Dark Pit off of his feet with a gust of wind from his sword, but Dark Pit literally sliced the wind in half with his blade. The resulting sword beam caused Zephynn to dive out of the way and hit the sand. Dark Pit then pinned him to the ground with a ball of wind and turned to Vinnia, who was trying to resort to her demigod powers.

Dark Pit was on top of her before she could form a proper shield and sliced at her, cutting down the shield and then socking her in the face in the next movement. Vinnia fell to the ground and Dark Pit gave her a good kick in the stomach. At that moment, a cry rang out across the beach and Pit, who had been about to charge, turned to see Raven running down the beach, her hands in a position to hurriedly summon water. Pit was about to yell for her to get back, but it was too late. While Zephynn had somehow found a way to break free of the wind, it was too late to stop Raven from charging. A wall of water was forming around her, but Dark Pit had summoned a new ability and charged at her; his sword set on fire and he flung the flames in a fantastic fireball.

Much of the water was turned to steam, but the wall continued to form around Raven. Zephynn tried to charge out and help, as did Pit. Vinnia stayed down from the brutal attacks she faced beforehand. Dark Pit came in close and then swung his blade at the wall in full flame again. The blade met the water and for a few seconds they clashed, but Dark Pit overpowered the defense and pushed through. Though the fire had been doused, he still managed to land a strike, with the blade, on Raven's forehead.

A gash was left by the attack and Raven was left on the ground unconscious, likely from the shock. Unbeknownst to anyone else, as Pit and Zephynn looked on in shock, Vinnia had been able to pull herself up as Dark Pit was destroying the shield. The second she saw Raven on the ground, her mind lost any trace of mercy and sanity. There was nothing in there but the desire to kill the dark angel. She let forth a banshee-like scream and stood up, her form radiating pure rage. Her fist was lifted in the air and she slammed it into the ground.

Out of nowhere, the earth shook and the ocean roared. From the mountainside, tumbling rocks slammed into the forest and crushed many of the trees. Everyone in the area was thrown off of their feet. Raven was carried by the liquidating ground over to the ocean, where the tide caressed her unconscious body. Vinnia, though, charged over the shaking ground and grabbed her lance out of the sand. She wasted no time charging back at Dark Pit, who was barely off of the ground. Her eyes shone with vengeance.

She stabbed without waiting and Dark Pit was barely able to reflect the strike. Then she stabbed again and again. Dark Pit continued to parry frantically and defensively. The stabbing got through a few times, but injuries were relatively minor on the dark angel, with only a few cuts having opened. Vinnia wouldn't stop however, and eventually, she got tired of their little game and turned her lance around expertly, slamming the butt into his stomach and knocking him to the ground.

Then, the unexpected happened. Pit found Vinnia trying to stab at him as well, since he had been lying in pain next to where Dark Pit landed. He rolled out of the way and dodged Vinnia's expert lancing until finally, he got enough courage to smack her in the head with the staff. Vinnia grabbed the side of her head in pain, as it was the same side that Dark Pit had hit earlier.

"What the heck just happened?" said Vinnia with a gasp.

"You went crazy for a second," said Pit, "It must have been Raven." Vinnia's eyes seemed to light on fire again, but when she turned to face Dark Pit again, she got a nasty sock to the face, hard enough to give any normal person a concussion, and certainly enough to knock her out.

Dark Pit wasted no time swinging his sword at Pit. Pit immediately rolled onto the ground, feeling Dark Pit's sword swing graze his head. Pit was forced on the defensive as he deflected a sudden barrage of melee attacks from his opponent. The length of the staff provided an excellent tool for blocking the strikes, and Pit eased into the pattern. Then he broke it just as fast.

As Dark Pit pulled his arm back one more time. Pit jabbed the staff at him. Dark Pit jumped back. Pit decided that he would have to go all out in order to finish this and summoned the power of the staff's insane melee attack. The pink glow surrounded the staff and greatly increased its strength. Pit swung the staff at Dark Pit as hard as he could and Dark Pit was able to just barely catch the attack with his sword. He threw off the blow and caused Pit to stagger backwards; he was feeling the brunt of using the attack.

He wasn't worried just yet though, because Zephynn was raising a cry behind Dark Pit. Pit watched as Dark Pit decided to take a turn around and counter Zephynn's blow. He let loose a few more blows with his sword, and eventually Zephynn was hit in the side of the head by the flat of the dark angel's blade, thus knocking him to the ground. Subtly, he winked at Pit, who nodded, having almost fully recovered all of his strength using the self-healing ability.

Dark Pit turned back to Pit and sized him up. A boundary of strength had been reached, but neither was about to relent if blows broke out again. However, they only glared at each other. Pit spoke first.

"What happened to you?" Pit asked, "I thought we were at truce! I thought I could trust you! And where are Magnus and Gaol anyways?"

"Things happened," said Dark Pit coldly, "You are a thorn in my side. You have caused me pain and agony in more ways than I even know." Pit was ultimately confused.

"What do you mean more ways than you know!?" Pit cried in defense.

"My heart has suffered terrible wounds because of you," said Dark Pit fiercely, "I must have the satisfaction of ending your life."

"Are you crazy!?" Pit cried in panic, "We're linked! If I die, you'll die too!" Dark Pit's face formed a cocky smile.

"There is a way around that," he said slyly, "I can use the link to merge your soul with mine. When I kill you, I will be the only Pit. Your soul will be doomed to wander around in the darkness of repression within me." Pit was horrified at this, not only because it made him anxious, but because he saw how it could work.

"How could you say something so sick!?" Pit cried, "Wasn't it you who said that eating souls was a sick thing to do? You can't have gone back on that!"

"I must put an end to you!" Dark Pit insisted ferociously.

"I should be telling you that!" Pit said angrily, "You've hurt my friends! Zephynn, Raven, Vinnia... they're all innocent in this! I dragged them into it! And where's Aria?"

"You make no sense," said Dark Pit, "And don't change the subject."

"I need to know whether or not she's safe!" Pit insisted, "I have to!"

"She's no longer my prisoner," said Dark Pit with an impatient sigh, "She follows me of her own free will. She's not far from here."

"You say that as if there's something wrong," said Pit through narrowed eyes.

"Her leg is injured," said Dark Pit, "I made sure to move her away from where the fight would be. Unlike you, I make sure that innocent bystanders stay safe!" The final words were yelled. He charged at Pit, preparing a final strike, and Pit got ready to block it, but suddenly, Dark Pit's eyes went wide and he fell to his knees. Pit watched in surprise, withdrawing his weapon to a standing position. Dark Pit suddenly fell forward, face first onto the ground. His eyes had rolled back into his head and he was moaning something inaudible, though it sounded as though it was the mourning of someone's death.


	26. The Past Twists of Fate

Chapter 26: The Past Twists of Fate

Dark Pit remained still on the ground, so still that Pit actually poked him with the staff a few times before finally stepping back and assuming that he was either totally unconscious or dead. No, not dead, because if he was dead, Pit would be dead too. Zephynn sat up slowly and painfully.

"Well, that was tough wasn't it?" he asked as he rubbed the side of his face, feeling it slightly wetted by blood. Pit didn't respond. He noticed the small gash that had opened on Zephynn's right cheek, where he had been hit by Dark Pit's blade.

"I wonder..." said Pit to himself. He touched the tip of the staff to Zephynn's cheek and tried to use the healing magic, but it didn't work.

"I guess not," said Pit aloud as he withdrew the staff. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Raven walking back from the ocean as though nothing had happened to her. Clearly, the events were still on her mind though.

"What happened?" she asked, "I woke up and father's subjects were helping me heal. Is the battle over?"

"You fought bravely," said Pit, though his heart wasn't into it. He looked over at Vinnia. Her face was bruised and her dress was torn in a few places. Pit decided to attempt the healing magic again, feeling that this time it might work. He touched her forehead and concentrated. He suddenly felt a burst of magical energy coming from the staff. When he opened his eyes, the staff was glowing blue, and the blue was going all throughout Vinnia's body, fixing everything.

Her eyes fluttered open.

"What did I miss?" she asked groggily. Raven hugged her tightly.

"I was so worried!" she cried out. Vinnia struggled out of the grip of the young girl.

"Well, when I said get over your fear of weapons, I didn't mean charge into battle in order to save me," said Vinnia in annoyance, "But you did good. I don't know what happened after you got hurt, just that you did good while you were up. Hey Pit, did you screw him over for me?"

"Not exactly," said Pit as he looked over at Dark Pit again. The dark angel was twitching. The ground around his face-down head was beginning to become wet.

"Serves him right," Vinnia muttered not seeming to notice that the dark angel was weeping under the heaviness of his head. Then, out of nowhere, the staff screamed out. Pit was so startled that he threw the staff in the air and it landed on the other side of Dark Pit. All four of them covered their ears in pain. When they uncovered them, they heard the staff repeating over and over again, "No... Lilia... no..." And in the staff's mind, this was what was happening:

* * *

_The attack had come on suddenly. Ladon didn't understand what was going on at first when he heard the screams coming from outside. He had figured it was bandits again, so he grabbed a blade from in his room and charged outside, only to find himself at a large group of Monoeyes that were firing at random. Villagers littered the ground like flies already. _

_Ladon dropped his sword in panic. He looked around frantically for a second and then dodged under a Monoeye's bolt of energy. He ran for his life. He had to find Lilia and take her to safety until Dark Pit showed up. Ladon knew that the dark angel would certainly come for them. As he searched for Lilia in the crowds of people that were running for the gates, blue bolts of energy flashed overhead and Monoeyes fell out of the sky, smashing into bits the second they hit the ground. _

_Ladon took cover at the mouth of an alleyway as he watched a figure descend from the sky. He couldn't tell who it was; for some reason it was blurry, but it appeared to be an angel of some sort. He wanted to say it was Dark Pit, but this angel was surrounded with radiant light quite unlike Dark Pit. As this angel began taking down foes, people running around trying to escape the monster fire, Ladon spotted Lilia across the square. He began to run towards her so as to get her out of danger. _

_However, fate was about to play a nasty trick. As Ladon reached just over halfway across the square, a Monoeye came up behind Lilia. The angel fired his bow so as to hit the monster. He misjudged his target. Time slowed down. Ladon could only watch with wide eyes and shock as the bolt of blue energy hit Lilia right in her center as she turned to run from the Monoeye. The angel had already gone after another enemy, not taking the time to see if he had hit or not._

_Ladon was still and shocked for about five seconds until a Monoeye's bolt hit him at his feet and threw him out of the square. He found himself almost fifty feet from the square, struggling to get up. As he stood up, he got another look at Lilia. The arrow of light had penetrated her center. Her clothes were steaming with angelic energy. Tears broke from Ladon's eyes._

"_Lilia... NO!" he cried. However, before he could sob, he felt a presence behind him. He didn't have time to turn either, because out of nowhere, something sharp came down hard and hit him in the side. Ladon's eyes went wide with terror and pain. He couldn't scream. His voice wouldn't work. The reaper's scythe was pulled out of his side and the monster walked away to the gate at his back. _

_Ladon fell to his knees, clutching his side. He wouldn't survive. There was no way. Not even with Lilia's healing magic could he possibly fix the damage that was done, and Lilia was far from being able to heal. A little ways off, an angelic light appeared and shot up to the sky._

"_N-no..." he gasped, "H-how... w-w-why?" He had to get to Lilia, to at least reassure her before she died. He pulled himself up painfully and found himself unable to walk, almost unable to stand up straight. He took a step and his side jerked in pain. He continued to hold it, despite the fact that his hands were getting very bloody. He began to step with his left foot, trying to limp along gently, but he found that his head was in a rush. He couldn't think straight, and the pain in his side was killing him._

_He heard the death cry of a reaper from a little ways behind him. Then he sighted Dark Pit through blurring vision as he almost collapsed. Dark Pit supported him as he ran up._

"_Ladon!" he cried._

"_Dark... Pit..." Ladon wheezed. He couldn't think straight, and the words that he heard coming from Dark Pit's mouth were almost gibberish to him._

"_Wha... penned..." Dark Pit seemed to say. Ladon answered the best he could._

"_Monsters came from nowhere..." Ladon gasped, "We were... lucky... angel... appeared..." Ladon couldn't understand what Dark Pit said next. _

"_P..." Dark Pit's voice echoed in his mind, and he could only hear the first letter. He decided to appease his friend and said, "Yeah, him." Ladon felt himself begin to lose consciousness but he shook himself awake._

"_Where's Lilia?" asked Dark Pit, this time, the words quite clear to Ladon. Ladon pointed to the square, with a bloody hand._

"_There..." he croaked. He almost fell but he kept his balance. Dark Pit made sure he was steady and helped him to the square, looking to the sky with his eyes shut tight. After they arrived in the square, Dark Pit began scanning the area. A few tears slipped from his eyes, and then he sighted Lilia's blue hair among the fallen, towards the edge of the square, close to where she had been hit by the angel's shot. Dark Pit yelled, "No!" and laid Ladon down carefully before rushing over to Lilia. As Ladon watched Dark Pit helplessly pull Lilia's head into his lap, he felt a presence behind him. He jerked and gritted his teeth in agony. The wound was too much. But the turn was enough to see Lilia's father, George, behind him._

"_You'll be alright Ladon," George said comfortingly as he bent down to Ladon. Ladon shook his head._

"_No sir," he said sadly, "The wound goes deep. I won't survive. And Lilia..." He burst into tears again. George knew his pain, perhaps even more than Ladon himself did, and joined him. _

_Ladon looked over to where Dark Pit had found Lilia. Both he and George watched as the two exchanged words and Dark Pit slipped a ring onto her left ring finger. He kissed her hand and more words were exchanged. George was weeping helplessly now, and Ladon couldn't help but watch as his vision fluctuated between clear and fuzzy unable to stop the tears that were streaming down his cheeks and wetting the collar of his shirt._

_Then Ladon watched, his skin beginning to become white. They came close, and Ladon watched as Lilia said her last words. He read her lips and cried harder. "I love you too." Then he saw Lilia's life leave her. Dark Pit pushed the hair out of her face. Ladon almost lost consciousness from the mournful scene, as it added to his injury. Then Dark Pit screamed to the sky in agony. Ladon couldn't cover his ears and he didn't want to. He shared whatever feelings Dark Pit had at the moment. Whatever the dark angel had on mind, Ladon felt it. Night fell and Dark Pit continued to scream and sob aloud. Ladon almost fell into an everlasting sleep a few times, but he shook himself awake with his crying. Then, as the sun began its rise, Dark Pit said loud and clear:_

"_Someone get me a shovel and some blankets. And get me a stone as well." Ladon wished he could do it himself but he almost lost consciousness, barely being able to stay awake. Night began to fall as someone (Ladon couldn't figure out who with his mind so foggy and leaving him) helped him to the graveyard where Dark Pit was already making a grave for Lilia. Ladon's vision began to fade as he watched Dark Pit make the headstone. He told his supporter softly, "Take me over to that shed over there..." _

_The supporter did as he was told and set Ladon on the ground by the shed where he could see the finished grave. Dark Pit stood up and finished the burial. Ladon's tears had long since stopped. He couldn't cry anymore. The pain was gone, but on the inside, he was in agony. He felt his side. There was no more blood. Only water. He was a dead man. There was no time left in him. The last thing he saw was the headstone. It read:_

_Here Lies Lilia Hecatesdaughter_

_A bright cheerful friend and bride-to-be._

_She was loved by all around her._

"_Th-thank... you... D-dark... P... p..." Ladon couldn't finish his sentence. The world was beginning to fade into black. The last thing he thought was how much he owed Dark Pit, and how much the one who had killed Lilia owed him. Then he breathed his last._

_However, after the last breath he took, his eyes shut, and then he opened them again and found himself still breathing. The world around him was white. He heard a voice echoing around him. _

"_Ladon, you have been given an unfair death," said the voice, clearly one of a goddess, "I will preserve your soul within a Somewhat Staff, that one day, you might revive and live on as a human." Ladon wanted to protest and ask for Lilia to be preserved instead, but he couldn't speak. He saw a strange looking weapon, a Somewhat Staff, materialize in front of him. Then he felt himself being sucked in. As his whole being was sucked into the staff, he struggled and screamed and kicked on the inside, but stood no chance on the out. The second he was fully sucked in, everything went blank._

* * *

**A/N: The mystery of the Somewhat Staff... it has finally been developed. All of the pieces are in place but one. It is a dramatic and ironic fact that many (if skills of perception are strong) should have figured out already. The hint? Who accidentally killed Lilia? Once you answer that, link the beginning of this story (before the Somewhat Staff began to have troubling memories) to this flashback. Get the irony yet?**

**If anything in this chapter could not be understood, it is likely because you haven't been reading The Dark Triad with this story. These stories **_**are**_** fiercely intertwined, so it is highly recommended that they be read side by side. My friend and I accept collective criticism too! :D Just sayin'. Oh, and by the way, neither of us own Kid Icarus and all characters, places, and ideas belong to Nintendo (except for the ones we made up).**


	27. Motives

Chapter 27: Motives

The three demigods and the angel were unable to understand the murmurs that the staff was letting out. It continued to say softly to itself, sobbing underneath, "Ladon... I... Ladon... Lilia... no... Dark... Dark Pit... thank... I... Ladon..." The words came out in fits, and at complete random. The four heroes were not able to understand what he was trying to say. Then out of nowhere, he stopped and the eye on his hilt swiveled around.

"These memories..." he said aloud, "They can't be real. I am Ladon... I am... it cannot be so... that... that her death... no, I refuse to believe it." Pit picked up the staff off of the the ground.

"What?" asked Pit. The staff said nothing for a few seconds.

"Nothing," he said finally. They all laughed and were so into it that they didn't even notice Dark Pit trying to sneak away behind them. He didn't get far. Vinnia saw out of the corner of her eye the dark angel's getaway. In one swift movement, she had herself right behind him, and her lance's point at his neck.

"Going somewhere?" Vinnia asked slyly.

"Do it," said Dark Pit sincerely, "You'd be doing me a favor." Vinnia dug the lance point a little deeper and drew some blood.

"I won't let you surprise me," she said.

"Vinnia..." Pit said, whatever he had felt at the beginning of the battle wearing down, "Is this really necessary?"

"Don't let him fool you!" Vinnia cried sharply, "He's trying to catch you off guard!" In the moment that it took to yell at Pit, Dark Pit had turned around, pushing the lance away gently and staring at Vinnia emotionlessly. There was a shocked silence as Dark Pit kept his gaze steady.

"Let me go," he said monotonously, "I have a lot on my mind." The dark angel started taking his leave, but Pit caught him before he could go.

"What happened to you?" he asked, "Seriously?" Dark Pit turned back and glared at him.

"Think about it," said Dark Pit coldly, "You should know." Dark Pit continued his leave down the beach.

"Wait!" Pit called, "Where's Aria?" Dark Pit ignored him.

"Where are your stupid partners!?" Vinnia yelled. There was no response.

"What did I do!?" Pit said finally. Dark Pit became a speck as he headed down the beach to the west. Vinnia almost charged after him, but Pit held her back with the staff.

"Let him be," said Pit, "I think we'll figure out what's wrong with him in time. Eventually, I'm going to have to." Pit turned his attention to the staff.

"You're name is... er, was Ladon?" he asked.

"I... I suppose," said the staff, seeming to come out of a dazed thought process.

"Alright, I suppose that's what we'll call you from here on out then," said Pit, straightening up, "I say we find Aria before Dark Pit does. Something tells me he was lying."

"You finally decide to join our side," said Vinnia, throwing her arms in the air in annoyance, "Great job Pit. We could have killed him right then and there."

"I didn't feel the need," said Pit in his defense as he started towards the eastern side of the landscape. He didn't get far before Vinnia called after him, "You don't have any clue where she is!" Zephynn had to hold her back from trying to charge at Pit and Pit turned around.

"Vinnia, please stop," said Pit gently, "You're starting to act like your mother; but worse. I'm sure Zephynn can relate with me on this one." Zephynn nodded hesitantly. Raven, in the meantime, was scoping out the destroyed forest that had been created when Pit had fired the first shot at his rival. She sharpened her senses as she stood there. This was another ability of hers; so long as the ocean was nearby, she could heighten her sensitivity to the point of being able to sense someone's breathing from five miles away. She heard a steady breathing not more than a mile off to the east.

"That way," she said suddenly, interrupting the little argument that had broken out between the three others. They all looked at her suddenly and she felt embarrassed.

"I can hear breathing coming from about a mile that way," she said shyly. Pit quickly made his way towards the direction Raven had pointed them and began poking through the bushes and trees. Then he heard a girl's breathing from nearby. He quickly pushed the bushes apart and found himself looking down upon a girl with brown hair, a white dress with green trim, brown eyes, and a startled look. Her leg was in a splint and she was armed with a Palutena Bow, a sword, and a few knives.

"Aria..." Pit said in shock. Aria was unable to speak and tried to back away a little.

"Don't worry, it's just me," said Pit, "You remember me right?" Vinnia and Zephynn watched from behind him with curiosity. Raven lurked behind Vinnia. Aria finally nodded a few moments later. Pit thought for a moment and then took the staff, touching it to her hip. He closed his eyes and concentrated. The staff glowed blue and the light went throughout Aria's leg. When the light vanished and Pit opened his eyes, Aria was able to take the splint off. The leg felt no pain.

Pit helped her up.

"That's a relief," said Pit, "Dark Pit must have done a real number to you. I hope you weren't hurt too badly. Aside from... that of course." Aria shook her head lightly. On the inside, he wondered if what Dark Pit had said about forming a partnership with her was true. It would certainly explain the splinted leg.

He helped Aria up and led her over to the others. Vinnia sized her up.

"She looks just fine now," said Vinnia, "I don't know what caused that broken leg, but I do know that she's traumatized by something."

"Since when did you become a physician?" asked Zephynn. Vinnia shot him a glare and he backed off in fear.

"We'll make camp for the night," said Pit, even though the sun was still high in the sky, "I don't see any point in moving further today. We should give Aria time to rest." Nobody opposed the idea, everyone else because of the battle's exhausting qualities, and Aria because she couldn't protest.

* * *

Aria cooked that night for no particular reason. They sat around a campfire and ate in a stunning silence. Not even Ladon the Somewhat Staff said a word. Perhaps he murmured something every once in awhile, but overall, it was silent. All had different thoughts on the day's events.

Vinnia's mind about Dark Pit hadn't changed in the slightest. She still wanted to see him dead, though her desires were perhaps toned down a notch. Zephynn's motives to fight hadn't changed either. He followed Pit to fight the darkness that threatened him, and that's all that mattered. Raven was still confused about why what had happened _had_ happened and wanted to ask Vinnia about it all, but was reluctant.

Pit himself felt a mixture of confusion and curiosity. He wanted to know exactly what he had done to drive Dark Pit to the point of wanting to kill him. He searched his memories for something that could have set Dark Pit off after the war that had occurred just a little while back, perhaps three years. He couldn't, in all of the countless field missions and battles he had somehow been teamed up with the dark angel on, remember anything that would put Dark Pit at the point he was at. There were a few vague memories that he could recall, but none were that significant.

Ladon found himself in a similar situation as Pit. The memories he had recovered from the new healing skill (which he dubbed randomly offensive healing), were huge. The puzzle of his memory was suddenly almost complete. He remembered so much. His name, the details of that awful massacre, a fear of reapers that had resulted, not to mention just how close he, Dark Pit and this Lilia were. There was also a few random things thrown in there, like claustrophobia, and the strange memory that his mother was never around and that he had lived alone for most of his life, seeing her once or twice in his youth, commonly staying with Lilia and her father George. His father had died early in Ladon's life.

It was all so much to take in. The memories hit him like being trampled in a bull run that he never saw coming. But there was one piece missing, and it was the question of who had killed Lilia. The only angels Ladon knew of were Dark Pit and Pit, and he wasn't about to put either of them on the line. However, the logical side of his mind told him something like, "He is a traitor. He killed your friend and caused you grief." The side of fear caused him to draw back away from this, but it was an inevitable debate within his mind. There was no way he would be able to avoid thinking about the subject in the future.

Then there was Aria's case. She couldn't speak, and though she could still cook, she wouldn't eat either. It was all so sudden, suddenly being back in Pit's hands again. She found that she missed the caring arms of Dark Pit. And what he had said to her before he charged into battle... he told her to stay where she was and he would keep the battle away from her. He cared for her so much; it honestly surprised her that he would just leave like that, so much, that she was considering going after him, not only because of the reasons forementioned, but because when she had picked up the stuff she had on her, she found his supply bag.

However, she had other thoughts. Pit had been the one to get her into what she had gotten into. She would never have been able to leave the city without him, and furthermore, she never would have met Dark Pit. However, Pit had also done something to severely injure Dark Pit's emotional stability; Aria had seen the proved results of it. Dark Pit had told her himself that Lilia had a lot to do with why he hated Pit so much. Then there was the matter that they had had a few times where they were very close. The time at the ocean, the broken leg incident... they had been there for each other ever since he had let her loose. Now she felt... empty.

They all soon fell asleep, the fire still blazing. They made sure to keep out of the forest and had chosen a small dip at the mouth of the valley they had exited to make camp. As they slept, Ladon murmuring to himself silently, Aria found herself in a fit of insomnia. She couldn't sleep, or think. The empty hole in her heart that had formed when she had been found by Pit's party was growing wider and deeper. The crickets chirping around her, she made her move. She grabbed her stuff and Dark Pit's supply bag and strapped them on, preparing to leave the campsite so as to find Dark Pit. However, as she tried to silently slip away, Raven stirred and saw her.

"Um... where are you going?" Raven whispered just barely audible. Aria turned in surprise.

"I'm leaving," she said, "What does it look like?"

"Why don't you want to stay?" asked Raven. Aria sighed.

"Feel free to tell the others this," she said, "Dark Pit... he gave me hospitality. He gave me something that I had been missing. Companionship. I don't know if someone as young as you would understand, but I found a partner in him. Someone I could rely onWe got off to a rough start but... well, now I feel as though the separation is going to kill me."

"I understand," said Raven softly, "If Vinnia was hurt, I would be hurt as well." Aria walked over to Raven and knelt down.

"You're younger than I am," said Aria, "I can tell. But you have care in your heart wider than the ocean itself for those that you love. I just know it. Keep that with you forever. It may sound weird coming from me since we've... well, we've never met before, but I promise, with the care you have, you will play a great role in the future." She smiled a little.

"See you later... maybe," she said as she stood up again and walked off. Raven watched her go and vanish into the darkness before she laid her head back down and went to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Again, if you see things in this chapter that you don't understand, read Dark Triad as it is so far, and most, if not all of them will be cleared up. **


	28. The North Wind Temple

Chapter 28: The North Wind Temple

The group woke up the next morning to find that Aria was gone. Before they could get too nervous (and Vinnia could get hopping mad at Dark Pit), Raven told them the news.

"She left to go back to Dark Pit," said Raven, "She said something about finding something like a partner in him." The group settled down after that.

"So he wasn't lying..." said Vinnia in a mild form of shock, "That's a surprise."

"He can be honest when he wants to," Pit muttered, "Sometimes he'll just twist the truth." Raven and Vinnia began to talk about what exactly had happened to cause that fight in the long run. The Somewhat Staff debated with itself and Pit simply paced around, trying to figure out the team's next move. He wouldn't have to. Zephynn would do it for him.

"The North Wind Temple is nearby," he said aloud, "I can feel the center of the northern chaos." The whole group turned to him. He pointed up to the mountainside. "Somewhere on a flat part of a mountain up there. I think we should go and check it out." There was no argument. They packed up their stuff and took leave to begin ascending the mountain.

* * *

They took the trail that they had come down into the valley by and ended up in the same area that they had landed in after they had escaped from the monster base.

"Now what?" Vinnia asked Zephynn. Zephynn closed his eyes and felt the wind.

"The chaos is centered that way," he said after a few seconds. He pointed at the trail opposite of the one that they had taken up. It led up further. They walked for another ten minutes and the trail hit a dead end. They were on the backside of the mountains now and overlooking the ocean below. The trees Pit had destroyed with the first attack marked the battle scene below them.

"Now what do we do?" asked Vinnia. Zephynn closed his eyes again. In his mind, he saw an invisible wind trail wrapping around the mountain and closing the gap, that was broken for about five feet in the middle. He could see the chaos over the cliff above them, even though nothing was visible.

"It's up there," said Zephynn, "There's a bridge but it's broken. I think I can hold it long enough for us to get up though."

"I don't see any bridge," Vinnia said impatiently.

"I think he means a wind bridge," said Pit. Vinnia squinted at the twenty foot chasm as though trying to see a bridge.

"I don't see anything," she said.

"If you don't believe me, step forward," said Zephynn. Vinnia shot a look at him like if-I-fall-I'm-taking-you-down-with-me and put a foot over the chasm. Both she and Raven held their breath. Pit watched anxiously. Vinnia stepped down and her foot held.

"Okay, that is weird," said Vinnia, "But I believe you now."

"Don't go any further," said Zephynn, "I need to fix the bridge." He closed his eyes yet again and focused on making the winds holding the invisible bridge to come together. It worked. The winds, which were neutral on the bridge, pushed themselves together and reformed the bridge. The only problem was that it was a little flimsier on the formerly broken part.

"One at a time," said Zephynn, opening his eyes, "The bridge is fixed, but it's still weak." Vinnia took a few steps across the bridge and passed over the flimsy part easily because she was light. Raven went next, and she had an easier time as Vinnia. Pit took the next walk. He was a little heavier, so the flimsy part tensed when he stepped on it, but he made it across. Zephynn went last. He made his way across the bridge, and began crossing the flimsy part.

Then, out of nowhere, the flimsy part collapsed on him. In a storm of reflexes he grabbed the other end of the bridge.

"Zephynn!" Vinnia cried.

"I'm fine!" Zephynn called from below, "The temple should be right there! Wait for me there!" Of course, none of the three of them were going to leave Zephynn to hang there, so they all watched him unsheath his sword with one hand and spin it around to generate wind, and then used that wind to push him up. He landed himself on the other side of the bridge easily and walked right off onto the cliff where the others were waiting.

"I said I was fine," he said with a little bit of a cocky grin as he sheathed his sword. Vinnia rolled her eyes. Zephynn walked towards a structure that the others had their backs to. It was definitely a temple, and there was an insignia above the entrance. It depicted some sort of a wind sigil that pointed up. There were two curved markings going up and curving opposite directions and one that went straight up in the center. Zephynn looked at his sword's hilt. He hadn't noticed it before but a similar symbol was emblazoned there, but the whole thing pointed to the left.

"Let's go," said Zephynn automatically. The others followed him inside. It was quite enormous. There was an altar in front of them at the back of the place, and on either side were amazing engravings on the walls. Altars lined the walls as well. It should also be noted that the winds blew wildly in there and it was cold.

"Have you ever been here before?" asked Vinnia.

"No," said Zephynn, "I could only find it because this is where the chaos is centered." Raven and Vinnia began to shiver in the cold, while Pit was fine due to the fact that he could handle more extreme temperatures. Zephynn simply ignored it as he looked around the back of the temple. He found a bright blue ball in a rolling device, sort of like a globe and touched it. Out of nowhere, the winds in the temple blew past him and into the ball. He jumped back a good ten feet and almost bumped into Pit. The winds then exited the ball and formed a visible message.

"The third day of the fifth month..." said Zephynn.

"That's the day before the day I found Pit!" Vinnia cried. The winds reformed into a figure. He wasn't very clear, but his features shone. He was a god for sure. He wore a light blue crown and a long regal robe. His beard flowed, though they couldn't tell if it was from the wind or if it did it naturally.

"My nephew, Zephynn," he boomed through the temple, "If you are seeing this, it must be at least two weeks since my capture." Everyone was shocked.

"It's a hologram..." said Pit in amazement.

"No, it's Boreas," said Zephynn in shock, "In a hologram." The holographic god spoke again.

"I don't have much time before I am captured at the moment," he said, "I sense that in around two weeks you will come here. There will be a conflict and you will find yourself in my temple afterwards. As such, I will leave you a few gifts; for what man has another in without giving the other an item of thanks?" He pointed over to his right (the party's left).

"There you will find something that will be incredibly useful on your journey that will allow you to freely control your power," said Boreas, "And I sense three friends with you. I have left something for each of you." He gestured to the altar behind him.

"My forces cannot hold up much longer," said Boreas, "By the time you are here, they will be defeated. But I trust in you and your friends' strength. You will come through. But hurry dear nephew! There is not much longer before..." The sounds of battle suddenly rang through the hologram. They got louder and louder until the room seemed to be shaking. Finally, the shaking got to the point where it seemed real. Zephynn quickly drew his sword and slashed through the wind causing the hologram. The shaking stopped and everything was still again.

The temperature in the room returned to normal as the four of them looked around where Boreas had been pointing. It was still cold, but none of them seemed to notice. They went to the altar at the back of the temple first. Zephynn reached out to its center, where there was a long chain of fabric spreading across it. He grabbed the chain and realized that it was actually a series of four cloaks tied together.

He untied them and handed one to each of his friends, cutting holes in the one for Pit so his wings would fit. The cloaks were all gray and had a light blue sigil on them, except this one had the wind sigil pointing in every direction and spread across the center of the back of the cloaks.

"What's so special about these cloaks?" asked Vinnia as she let it fall over her dress.

"I think they're called Windeport Cloaks," said Zephynn, "Pull them over you and they'll transport you halfway across the world if that's what you desired."

"Odd name," Vinnia muttered.

"Never make fun of a name that a god made up," Pit warned.

"Whatever," said Vinnia. They hadn't noticed that Zephynn had wandered over to the other place Boreas had pointed. There were four pedestals rising out of the ground, one nearest to the south wall, one nearest to the east, one nearest to the north, and the other to the west. On each of them, except for one, there was a ring. Zephynn automatically moved towards the one closest to the West. Instictively, he reached his hand out for it but then he drew back.

"It's my mother's ring," said Zephynn as he heard his friends approach from behind, "I just don't know..."

"Boreas left it for you," said Pit, "And your mother is captured anyways. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt her to use it to help free her." Zephynn shuddered a little.

"You don't know my mother," he said in fright. The cold seemed to return, when suddenly, the wind's began to blow again. At that moment, he noticed that the south ring was gone.

"Get back!" Zephynn yelled suddenly. Without thinking he ripped the west ring off of the pedestal and put it on. He felt strength surge through him, and just in time too, because at that moment, the wall of the temple to the south collapsed towards them. He threw an enormous gust of wind at the falling wall and the pieces flew away from them, hitting the west side of the temple.

The wind continued to blow and Zephynn could feel it's properties. It was a freezing cold Antarctic style wind; it was from the south. In the center of the room, the now freezing group, Pit included, saw the winds swirling around someone. They cleared suddenly and a man was walking towards them.

All but Zephynn backed away. This man had a white beard that was long enough to reach his chest. He wore a dark blue robe and his eyes were a piercing blue as well. He radiated with power.

"What a bad, bad boy you are Zephynn," said the man, "Taking your mother's ring without permission, eh?" Zephynn said nothing.

"How naughty you are," said the man, "I should lay it into you myself for being so bad."

"What in the name of the Underworld are you doing here Norulus?" Zephynn asked in an indignant tone.

"So rude!" said Norulus, though his tone showed angst and mocking within, "You will be punished greatly when your mother comes back home I'm sure!"

"Why are you here?" Zephynn asked firmly, ignoring Norulus's jests. It suddenly registered in Pit's mind who this was. It was the south wind god, in the flesh. He understood what Zephynn was thinking now. Why _was_ he here when all of the other gods were being held prisoner?

"You must think I took my brother and sisters and all of the other gods and thrown them in a prison don't you?" Norulus guessed, "If so, you're wrong. I didn't do it. Let's say... I made a compromise the others wouldn't be smart enough to make."

"What is it then?" Pit asked as he stepped forward, "Did you sign your allegiance to the dark side?"

"That and I agreed to give a little of my power to my contractor," said Norulus, "It was very simple actually. My contractor... he is an excellent employer. Once the plans he has are carried out, he will make me the sole god of the winds. It is a fair trade for what I have given him, wouldn't you say?"

"You are the most corrupt person I know!" Zephynn yelled, "I wouldn't dare allow you to take the position of my mother!"

"Such a hypocrite!" Norulus exclaimed, "You have taken your mother's ring, which gives you near godly power over the west wind! Is that not taking her position?" Zephynn clenched his teeth.

"And do you care nothing for your other family?" Norulus asked manipulatively.

"Don't listen to him Zephynn!" Vinnia yelled. She turned her attention to Norulus. "Hey you!" she yelled, "Get your south wind butt out of here before I stab you!" She drew her lance to prove her point, literally, but the winds picked up and the lance was thrown from her hand to the other side of the room.

"You dare insult a god?" Norulus asked, a wicked glare settling on Vinnia. Then he settled his gaze and said, "Well, you are Viridi's daughter. I should expect no less from the little girl of that b-" he was cut off by a gust from Zephynn.

"Start cursing and I will attack you, regardless of how powerful you are," said Zephynn seriously. Norulus laughed.

"You know nothing of my power," said Norulus, "I could dissolve all of you into the wind if I wanted at this very moment. But I choose not to, because I admire your resolve. You have your 'good' motives, and I have mine. We're allowed to think differently are we not?" Nobody challenged him.

"I thought so," said Norulus, "But anyways, as to why I'm here... my reasons are an order; an order to destroy you!" He began to call the south wind to his aid, but in one swift movement, Vinnia had grabbed her lance by extending the flexible wood to the point of being able to grab it. She pulled it to her and it blew past Norulus's left ear. She grabbed it out of the air and fired a bolt of energy at Norulus. Norulus used his winds to block it and then blew her into the wall behind them.

Raven ran back to help her while Zephynn drew his sword in the face of the inevitable fight. Norulus drew the winds to his hand and a sword almost twice as long as Zephynn's formed in it.

"You have a fine blade, I'll give you that," said Norulus with a wicked smile, "Obviously forged by someone with Dyntos's likeness. It is a shame that it must be broken." He prepared to charge at Zephynn but then Zephynn sheathed his sword.

"Pit, give me any location in the Great Plains," said Zephynn. Norulus's sword disappeared.

"Fleeing already are you?" he asked mockingly, "Go ahead. I won't stop you. Or will I?" Zephynn looked Norulus dead in the eye and mouthed, "_This isn't over._" Then he turned to his friends.

"Pull the cloaks over you," he said, "Do it now." Vinnia was barely conscious but she and Raven both did as they were told. Zephynn and Pit covered themselves with their cloaks and they concentrated. Zephynn said something inaudible and then, out of nowhere, the wind swirled around them and they vanished, leaving Norulus standing there in the North Wind Temple.

"He's still a coward," Norulus chuckled to himself, "I'll catch them later. Against my master, they stand no chance." The winds blew through the temple and he vanished.


	29. Deja Vu

Chapter 29: Deja Vu

The next thing Pit knew, he found himself and the others standing in the middle of a wide grassy plain. He looked around in confusion. Where were they? The cloaks had certainly taken them far. The mountains were not even visible from where they were standing. They couldn't tell north from south if they wanted to. The sun was high overhead.

"Now what?" asked Pit throwing his hands in the air, "We're in the middle of nowhere!" He saw that Vinnia had her eyes shut and seemed to be scanning the area. She opened them again.

"Not so," she said, "There's a town that way." She pointed in no particular direction. Zephynn added in, "That way is east. The west wind blows away from it." Raven shuddered.

"The ocean is far..." she said. That meant that they had moved quite far south, and, judging from the terrain, into the Great Plains again. Pit looked across his three friends in amazement. Together they could approximate where exactly they were. It was amazing. They began to walk east. About an hour and a half later, as the sun was just beginning to keel behind them, the town came into view.

"One interruption in the flow of nature and I'll be able to feel it from miles away," said Vinnia boastfully. The others rolled their eyes. They continued on. The sun was widening its descent behind them. They came quite close to the town. At this point, they were near a farmhouse and a beautiful flowery field was before them. There was a clearing to their right and a path that led all the way up to the town. And Pit felt the strange sense known as deja vu.

"I feel like I know this place," he said almost in a whisper.

"What do you mean?" asked Vinnia.

"I mean, I feel like I've been here before," said Pit. Then, a short distance away, Zephynn sighted a troop of Monoeyes and Slimeclopses approaching the town.

"Oh crap," said Zephynn, "We've got an enemy on hand." The rest of the group took notice and each readied their respective weapon. Raven stayed back.

"My powers aren't very good when I'm far from the ocean..." she said helplessly.

"Don't worry about it," said Vinnia, patting her on the shoulder, "You can get into the town and warn the people. We'll cover you." Pit and Zephynn nodded.

"Let's go," said Pit pointing the staff at the force of enemies.

"Find their commander first," said Zephynn, "It'll probably be the one that is most protected. Either that or it'll be the strongest." They began to run so as to meet the enemy. As Zephynn and Vinnia ran straight at their enemy, Pit stopped by the farmhouse to warn its residents. Raven went on ahead down the path.

Pit banged on the door and a young girl maybe twelve years old answered it.

"Hello," she said timidly, "Who are you?"

"I'm Pit, and I'm on a mission to save the gods," he said. He thought he saw the girl's eyes flash a little, but he disregarded it. "You have to get you and your family to town as fast as you can," said Pit urgently, "There is an enemy force approaching this area."

"I know," she said mysteriously, "I will head out as soon as I can." She shut the door in his face, and Pit was able to focus long enough to see her black hair hanging in braids down her back and her innocent brown eyes. Something about her seemed familiar as well.

Trusting the girl's word, though somewhat mystified by it, Pit ran to rejoin his friends, who were fighting fiercely to get rid of the enemies. As Pit fired a long range charge shot, Zephynn rolled under a Monoeye and slashed it from below. Almost immediately afterwards, he jumped up and slashed through three more with his sword. He hit the ground and was immediately charged by a hoard of Slimeclopses. Seeing that he had no escape, he crossed his fingers and then said something under his breath. Out of nowhere the wind picked up and he vanished, reappearing twenty feet from the battle. An amazed look on his face, he charged a sword beam and reentered the fight.

Vinnia in the meantime was showing no mercy. Monoeye after Monoeye, Slimeclopse after Slimeclopse, she stabbed and stabbed and stabbed. Her mind was in full stab mode. If an enemy creeped out of her range and tried to shoot her with their energy bolts, she knocked it out of the sky or vaporized it into the ground with a long range beam. On a few instances, she smashed her enemies to the ground using her wooden ribbons.

As Pit joined, he took out ten of the Monoeyes that were after Zephynn, who was again charging into the battle. The wind beam that came from his sword wiped out the entire front line of Slimeclopses. Vinnia took care of the Monoeyes in the air. Pit sniped when he could, sometimes in the heat of battle, sometimes rolling out before even trying. As the force began to dwindle in number, they thought they had achieved an easy victory. They had not been pushed back and had in fact pushed the enemy back nearly ten feet.

However, as Vinnia stabbed the last Monoeye in the... well, eye, a rumbling sound shook the ground. The three of them almost lost their balance, but before they could, an enormous cyclops suddenly tore through the earth and pulled itself out. It beat its chest heavily and let out a roar. Even Vinnia was wide-eyed. This cyclops was nearly five times taller than the ones they had already faced. It looked quite similar but it was huge. There was no way they were reaching that eye.

"Yeah, I think we've found the commander," said Vinnia in shock.

"No kidding," said Pit shaking his head in disbelief.

The Cyclops brought its enormous arm down to smash them. Zephynn made a quick hand motion and then yelled, "Think fifty feet away from here and pull your cloaks over!" The other two did as they were told and they found themselves out of range of the smash. However, Zephynn nearly collapsed as they reappeared and Vinnia caught him.

"Take him to the town," said Pit, "I'll handle this." Vinnia shook her head.

"I can't just leave you alone!" she cried, "You'll get yourself killed! And town is the last place we want to be!"

"Just go," said Pit, this time more commanding, "I can handle this. I will redeem myself!" Vinnia saw that there was no point in arguing this time and sheathed her lance, taking Zephynn in her arms and jogging towards the town.

Pit faced the enormous cyclops on his own. He ran to dodge a punch that it threw at the ground. The earth rippled from the force of the punch. Towns within fifty miles would be able to feel it. He looked around for any way he might find his way up besides going up its arm. He didn't like his chances since one of them involved being thrown off of the beast's arm and ultimately landing on the ground very hard. It was at this moment that he noticed a small object floating above the enormous cyclops' head, and it was flashing green every few seconds.

He then shuddered. _That _memory was coming up. He had forgotten about it until the beast had come up out of the ground. It had happened when Vinnia and Zephynn had ditched him to go steal their weapons. In a split second, he went over what had happened:

* * *

_Pit emerged from the vine igloo and saw that his two companions had vanished somewhere. Probably to get food. His eyes were splotched from crying. He still had the Somewhat Staff in his hand._

"_Now see here," said the staff, "That loss wasn't your fault. It was all the recklessness of your twin."_

"_It was my fault," said Pit, "If I would have not taken the challenge, none of this would have happened."_

"_Had you not taken the challenge, you would have been killed," said the staff, "And then where would we be?"_

"_Please be quiet, I need to think," said Pit finally. He decided to walk in silence as he thought. As he did this, he found himself in a dark part of the woods. He felt an ominous presence. There was something not right. Shadows took the light overhead. Pit found himself in almost complete darkness. He heard a bellowing noise. He moved towards it. He found himself looking through foliage at a horrific sight. In front of him were five enormous cyclops wrestling each other, or at least trying to. They were each about ten feet tall and the sight terrified the light angel. _

_He slowly backed away in terror, but he stepped on a twig and every one of the cyclops turned its eye on him. Five eyes stared at him angrily. Pit ran. The cyclops followed with heavy footsteps. Pit took a turn to the right and lost them. They continued running through the forest searching for him. Pit moved back to where they had come from. He pushed his way through the foliage that he had previously been looking through. _

_It was a small dank clearing, covered in darkness, pretty much like the rest of the forest. However, there was an evil aura about this place. Pit took a few cautious steps forwards. He could feel a trap. He sharpened his senses the best he could and took a few more steps. Then, as he walked into the bushes at the other end of the clearing, he lost his footing suddenly. He slipped and fell and found himself sliding down into a much larger clearing nearly fifty feet below. It was hidden well by the thick foliage above. _

_Pit stood up and began to look around._

"_What is this place?" asked Pit. _

"_I sense evil nearby," said the staff. Pit nodded. He felt it too. There was a tall stone in the center of the clearing. It looked like a normal stone, minus all of the strange markings on it. Then Pit noticed that it was floating above the ground and slowly spinning in the air and was flashing green every few seconds._

"_What the..." Pit didn't get to finish his sentence. The ground shook and then out of nowhere, the head of an enormous Cyclops tore through the ground. Pit, startled beyond belief, screamed. The Cyclops pulled itself out of the ground. It was as tall as the clearing itself. Without thinking, Pit shut his eyes and fired straight at it. He must have gotten lucky because when he opened his eyes again, a pinkish red laser had embedded itself in the enormous Cyclops' eye, and it was letting out a bloodcurdling scream. _

_The Cyclops slowly retreated back into the hole it had created in pain. Pit followed it with the laser. Then, as the top of the Cyclops' head disappeared beneath the earth, Pit fell to the ground, drained of anything that could keep him going. The flashing stone, which had followed the Cyclops' head up to the skies, had wedged itself into the air where it had been before as though the ground in the center of the clearing was still there. It was no longer spinning around._

"_You... shouldn't have... done that..." the staff gasped, "I feel as though I'm going to explode!"_

"_How do you think I feel?" asked Pit in exhaustion. He looked at the enormous hole in the ground and wondered just where that enormous Cyclops had come from. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a glimpse of a shadow in the darkness on the other side of the hole. A small green light, similar to the one on the stone, was the only thing that illuminated it, but it was all blackness. Then it vanished._

* * *

Pit dodged the next punch to the ground and was nearly thrown off his feet. This Cyclops was quite resilient. Pit was sure such a long strike to the eye would have killed it. It also came to his mind that that was the first battle against a larger cyclops monster. It seemed fitting to call it a Gigaclopse.

He quickly analyzed how he could defeat the monster. He remembered the figure in the memory, with the flashing green being the only luminescent item on it. It had to be some sort of Aurum weapon, which meant that the figure must have been like the woman that had attacked them before they were whisked away; an agent of the darkness, or so Pit thought. After all, if there was a god around at the time, it would have to be an evil one, one on the opposite side.

A foot almost came down on him. He had to find that agent of darkness. They wouldn't be far. Somehow they were controlling the Gigaclopse. As Pit looked around and ran constantly, he wondered what he would do with the agent of darkness. Perhaps if they were controlling the Gigaclopse, killing them would only make the monster go on a rampage. But what other solution was there? Perhaps removing control suddenly would cause the monster's brain to overload, if it had one at all. It didn't matter, because at that moment, Pit saw a flash of green not a hundred feet away from him.

He ran towards the flash as hard as he could. The Gigaclopse pursued him. He noticed that the light was moving and he adjusted. Then he jumped. He tackled a man in dark clothing, whose face was behind a hooded cloak. It was practically invisible. Pit saw an Aurum Palm on the man's arm. Everything was just as he expected. He felt the Gigaclopse's footsteps stop behind him. He figured the Aurum Palm allowed for control over the creature's mind.

He socked the man in the face and tried removing the weapon, but the man fought back by knocking him off with a couple of shots from the palm. The man made the Gigaclopse turn around and try to smash Pit, but Pit ran and avoided the slam. Then he shot at the dark agent from afar. Surprisingly, he was able to land a direct hit. The dark agent was shot over thirty feet and out of viewing distance.

Pit quickly ran for the hole that the Gigaclopse had come from. Perhaps he could make it fall back in. It was worth a shot. He arrived at the edge of the hole and looked into it. He couldn't comprehend how deep it was; as a matter of fact, it seemed to go straight to the Underworld. He heard rumbling behind him. The Gigaclopse was coming. He turned around and saw the monster stamping towards him. It began to jump at him.

Pit then made a crazy decision; he jumped into the hole. The Gigaclopse tumbled after him, hitting the edge of the hole and falling in. The dark agent walked up to the edge of the hole and peeked inside. His prime weapon was gone, but the light angel his boss had talked about seemed to have suffered the same fate. He turned to walk away. Then suddenly, he was shot to the ground by a massive blast from behind. He felt a powerful energy radiating from behind him, poking at his back.

"Disarm yourself," said Pit fiercely. The man slowly allowed the Aurum Palm to fade back into its ball form. Pit picked up the weapon and stored it in his tunic.

"Now, who are you working for?" asked Pit.

"I can't tell you that," said the man quickly. Pit dug the melee empowered staff into the man's back.

"Tell me!" Pit said fiercely. The man opened his mouth to speak but suddenly, he disintegrated into dust. All that was left was his cloak. Pit cursed under his breath but when he felt around the cloak, he found something. He pulled something out of a pocket hemmed into the cloak. It was a piece of paper that appeared to be a map, but it was fiercely singed and incomprehensible. Looking around, he saw that the field had been turned into a crater-like surface, as desolate as the moon.

"At least no one got hurt," said Pit with a sigh. He took his leave from the wasted site and towards the town where Vinnia and Zephynn were waiting for him, taking only an Aurum Palm, a burnt map, and a lot of unanswered questions.


	30. A Seer's Hint

Chapter 30: A Seer's Hint

As Pit walked through the town gates, he saw that many buildings had been rocked by the massive punches the Gigaclopse had put in the ground. He saw a few people tending the wounded and others who were rushing around frantically. Raven ran up to Pit out of the crowd.

"Is Zephynn alright?" Pit asked, "How many people are hurt?"

"Zephynn is fine," said Raven, "He just used too much power. Nobody died that we know of yet." Pit breathed a sigh of relief. So as far as he knew, no one was dead from that battle.

"Where are Zephynn and Vinnia?" he asked. Raven motioned for him to follow. They took a few turns and then cut through an alleyway. They found Vinnia and Zephynn sitting just on the other side of the alleyway, and with them was the girl from the farmhouse. Pit knelt by them and Raven stood.

"What did you do?" asked Pit.

"I saved our lives," said Zephynn weakly, "It took a lot of power to recharge all three of those cloaks." Pit turned to the girl.

"Who are you?" asked Pit, "And do I know you?"

"No," said the girl, "Or do you?" Pit was confused.

"She's been hanging around us since we got inside the city walls," said Vinnia, "She said something about waiting for you."

"Indeed," said the girl, "I have reason to believe that you are the hero for the quest to save the gods."

"Like I haven't heard that already," said Pit sarcastically, "Why do you think I'm on the surface so far away from Skyworld?"

"Come with me," said the girl, "All of you." The four travellers looked among each other as the girl began to walk away. She motioned for them to follow. Pit helped Vinnia get Zephynn up, who was still exhausted from using so much power. Vinnia had to support him. Raven followed behind them.

The girl led them through the town, which was quite large. As Pit looked at all of the buildings and how they were shaped and in what positions they were in, he felt more and more like he'd been there. The girl led them to one of the sections of wall that surrounded the city and said a few words the guard in the watchtower, after which he opened a gate in the side of the wall. She led the group inside.

She led them down a long slope that ended at the bottom of the wall. Then she led them to a large gate on the other side of the large room. Pit's heart raced as he looked around this room. Now he was almost positive of where he was. The gate opened for them and they walked outside.

Pit noticed that now they were just outside the city walls, on the opposite side of the city from where they had been. He stared in awe at the scene outside, and he could tell his teammates were shocked as well. There was no grass on the ground, only dirt, and there was a huge, expansive lake, bordered by large hills of rock and dirt. Mountains could be seen far in the distance. The city walls stretched for nearly two miles in each direction. Right in front of them was something the demigods had never seen before; a spring of yellow, steaming water. To their right was a path up a hill to a busted arena, with many broken pillars flanking it. The sun sank beneath the horizon in the west.

"Bad memories are surfacing in my mind," said Pit with a shudder.

"So you remember now?" the girl asked.

"This... this is the town that my body destroyed while I was stuck in the Chaos Ring three years ago..." said Pit breathlessly, "And you... you're that girl that picked up the ring first." The girl nodded.

"I didn't know at the time, but wearing that ring, even for only a short time had... adverse effects on me," she said, "I gained strange clairvoyant abilities. Suddenly, angelic and godly things became visible to me. I became a Seer, and at a young age. However, my family abandoned me, so I live alone." Listening to her story, Pit could only imagine what might have happened to the dog. And Magnus... He put the thought out of his mind.

"Why did you bring us here?" asked Pit.

"For one, I wanted jog your memory," said the girl, "The second reason... I must pass information on to you." Pit raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of information?" asked Pit. The girl pointed northwest.

"Far in that direction," she said, "There you will find an important item to your quest."

"Northwest," Zephynn confirmed, feeling the winds brush around him.

"What kind of item?" asked Pit.

"You seek to find the Underworld do you not?" asked the girl.

"Uh... yeah, I guess so," said Pit in confusion. It hadn't occurred to him that he hadn't had a clue where his group was headed. They had been wandering around aimlessly for two weeks. Now that it had been mentioned, he decided that it was a logical solution.

"How do you plan to get into the Underworld?" asked the girl. Pit saw what she meant. Both of the previous times he had gotten into the Underworld, he had needed Lady Palutena's help. There was no way he was getting in there unless there was some other entrance.

"I... don't know," said Pit, "I hadn't really thought of these things before."

"There is a secret entrance to the Underworld," said the girl, "But from my clairvoyant abilities, I can see that it requires keys of some sort. One key you will find in a secret base to the northwest. That is all I can tell you."

"Secret base..." Pit repeated, "Someone get me a map."

About twenty minutes later, they were sitting around a table in a near empty tavern, looking over a map of the land. The girl placed a finger on the dot that was the town they were currently in.

"This is Atrusha Town," she said informatively. She traced the map northwest and then circled an area in the very northern sector of the Great Plains with her finger, close to the border of the Wastelands (which was where Pallitia Town stood).

"There is your destination," she said. Pit looked at her in shock and then looked down at the map. He looked over at Zephynn, whose face was paling in utter terror. Vinnia was shaking her head.

"You've gotta be kidding me," said Pit in disbelief, "There?"

"Yes," said the girl nodding her head, "There." Pit closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Their destination was the same place Zephynn had been held captive; the metal hill.


	31. Travelling to the Hill

Chapter 31: The Journey to the Hill

Pit was up early the next morning. They had stayed at the farmhouse where the girl lived alone. Seeing as how there was nothing to do, he went up onto the roof alone to think. It didn't make any sense to him, that is, what he could have done to piss Dark Pit off to the point of his twin being willing to go back on something that they both found horrible and immoral three years ago. Pit knew that Dark Pit had never liked him, but this... this was all too much.

"I drove him to the point of wanting to kill me," Pit said to himself, "What could have hurt him so much?" Pit tried to think about what might make him that desperate to kill someone. He couldn't do it. Never before had he been that angry at something that wasn't evil or corrupted. He was so immersed in his thinking that he didn't notice that Ladon had floated up behind him.

"Um... Pit?" he spoke. Pit turned around in surprise, seeing his weapon there.

"Oh. Ladon," said Pit, breathing a sigh of relief, "You scared me." Ladon floated up next to him.

"What is it?" asked Pit.

"I've been... thinking," said Ladon, the eye on his hilt downwards a little.

"About what?" asked Pit.

"Have you ever... killed anyone before?" asked Ladon.

"Aside from monsters or Hades or those weird dark agents?" said Pit, "No." Ladon shifted a little.

"Have you ever come into a situation where... well... where you... where you killed someone on accident?" asked Ladon hesitantly.

"No," said Pit. Then he thought about the question for a little bit. "Not that I know of," he added. There were no words for a few seconds.

"Well, do you ever remember going on a mission to a town named Xintut?" asked Ladon. Pit looked at the staff in confusion.

"Why are you so interested in knowing what I've done in the past all of a sudden?" he asked.

"Can you please just answer the question?" Ladon responded impatiently. Pit was a little stunned at the sudden change in demeanor. He thought about that question. It was a simple question. Just a yes or no answer.

"If I tried to recall every mission I've ever been on, I would probably fail," said Pit, "In the last three years until now I've been on so many missions trying to purge the world from monsters that it would take a century of rest to help me fully recover. I'm sorry. I just can't remember." After that they were silent as the sun slowly rose in the east.

However, Pit stored that name in his head. There was a map inside that he could look on. Though he couldn't read words, a map was easy for him.

* * *

When Pit re-entered the house, Somewhat Staff in hand, he found that Vinnia was up, and had moved some furniture so that she could practice with her lance. She appeared to be growing very familiar with the weapon. Then she took notice of Pit.

"Where have you been?" asked Vinnia.

"Thinking," Pit responded as he walked past her. Vinnia only shook her head.

Once everyone else was up, they ate for the first time since the night of the battle. They hadn't even noticed that they were getting hungry; eating had not been on the top of their priorities list. By the time the sun was steady on the path of rising, the group was ready to set off northwest.

"Be careful," said the girl, "Many dangers await you. You must all remain strong through the trials ahead." They all bowed in thanks and then Pit reached a hand to shake.

"You never told us your name," he said as she took his hand, "What is it?" Out of nowhere, she pulled him so that she could speak into his ear.

"I am one who is not defined by a name," she whispered, "I am but a Seer and am nothing else." She let go of Pit's hand and he stumbled back a bit.

"Farewell..." she said, backing into her house and shutting the door behind her. Pit looked among his teammates and after a few shrugs and shakes of the head, they were off.

* * *

Two days passed as they travelled on to the northwest. Hours after they had left Atrusha Town, Pit realized that it had slipped his mind to check a map for the town Ladon called Xintut. Then, he remembered the map he had taken off of the Aurum Palm wielding dark agent.

He pulled it out and took a look at it. While it was still burnt, Pit could make out some markings on it. However, what he saw confused him. It didn't appear to be a map of the world. It was a map of something else that he couldn't recognize due to the parts that were burned off or scorched. Finding it impossible to read, he tucked it back into his tunic before anyone else could see him looking at it.

At the end of their first day of travel, they arrived in a large city that could be seen from miles upon miles away. This city was built in a tier-like fashion, like most great cities of the time were. Pit was disgusted to rest there for the night. The whole city was a worldly place. There were no altars or shrines or places of worship to any god or goddess anywhere.

"Some people really forget about the gods sometimes," Pit muttered as he looked out of the hotel they were staying in.

"It happens," said Zephynn, rubbing the ring on his finger, "I never do."

"Of course you don't," said Vinnia, joining the conversation, "You lived with one your whole life. What was it, five hundred years?"

"499," said Zephynn, "I'll be 500 in..." He counted the days on his fingers based on the date on the hologram in the North Wind Temple.

"Two weeks," he said. Raven kept quiet while they spoke, of course, not being aware of Zephynn's immortality.

"By the way, why did that recharging cloaks thing take up so much of your energy?" asked Pit, "Doesn't that ring give you more power?"

"No," said Zephynn, "It merely holds an endless reservoir of the west wind within it. It doesn't make it so that I don't tire. It just makes it so that I can use my power anywhere as though I were in the west. The Windeport cloaks are neutral in regard to the winds, so it takes a lot of power from just one wind to recharge them. I can recharge mine every thirty seconds without tiring, but having to use my power to recharge three at once... that takes a lot out of me." Pit nodded in understanding.

"I get it," said Pit, "Are those rings really only supposed to be used by the gods?" Zephynn shook his head.

"Only by the gods and their children," said Zephynn, "However, there is only one ring for each of them, and given how selfish the gods are..."

"I don't think selfish is the right word to use," said Vinnia, interrupting him, "I mean, it's true, but... you know."

"I don't think so," said Pit, "Lady Palutena would never act that selfish unless someone corrupted her." Vinnia shook her head.

"You'd be surprised," said Vinnia. That conversation ended right there.

* * *

The next morning they were up even earlier than the previous, and set off much earlier as well. They wanted to get out of the city before the merchants began opening up. Thankfully, they succeeded in that and were on their way again to the northwest. They travelled for nearly eight hours without stopping for breaks, unlike they had the previous day. They reached the next town while the sun was still shining high over their heads.

There was their only break for this leg of the journey. They stayed for about an hour. This town was much unlike the previous one; it was more like Atrusha was. And Pit recognized this area as well.

"This is Has," said Pit as they wandered the city streets, looking for a place to get something to eat, "Where the Second Underworld War started... six years ago... I remember it clearly. It seemed like it would be an easy war..."

"I remember flashes," said Vinnia, "I was only eight when it started. My hometown was lucky not to be attacked, but we were aware of things for those three years."

"I didn't even know it happened..." Zephynn said under his breath, "My mother kept me out of things." Raven shook her head. She didn't say much anymore, except to Vinnia. It felt like Vinnia was the only person in the group she could really talk to. To her, Vinnia was like an older sister that she had never had.

They stayed in Has for about an hour to restock on supplies and gain another supply bag (considering that their other one had been lost days before). They also grabbed something to eat. Then they pressed on to the northwest. The familiar hilly landscape came into view as the sun was sinking beneath the horizon. Vagrant City was far to their south. They slowed to a halt as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon and darkness overtook them. Vinnia shut her eyes and searched the landscape for that hill. Then she opened them again.

"That way," she said, pointing to a hill in between some others. They moved towards it. Zephynn took even breaths, trying to calm himself, telling himself that he was in the west and that he had the advantage, but it didn't help. As they took the steps onto the hill, Zephynn backed off, looking pale.

"I can't do this," he said. Vinnia looked back down at him with a glare.

"Zephynn, for the last time, man up," said Vinnia fiercely, "I mean, seriously. You have a sword, a magic ring, and a cloak that can warp you out of danger. That's a lot more than you had the first time you were here. And you aren't even imprisoned this time." They all continued up the hill, Zephynn falling reluctantly behind the others. Pit felt the staff shudder in his hand.

"Reapers..." he thought he heard it whisper. Pit stepped on the button on the top of the hill as soon as his partners arrived on top and it collapsed inwards. As they fell, Pit was thinking of a simple invasion, grabbing the Underworld key and getting out. What he didn't know was that he had a whole other thing coming for him.


	32. Infiltration

Chapter 32: Infiltration

When the team descended into the base, much more easily thanks to Vinnia's vines, they were met by silence and darkness. Zephynn's teeth could be heard chattering in fear. Pit felt Ladon trembling in his hand. The Somewhat Staff continued to repeat that one word, and now it was sending a shiver down the angel's spine; "Reapers. Reapers."

Pit strained his eyes to see in the darkness. The battle from over two weeks before had not been cleaned up well. There were still burns in the walls and the floor from the lasers. The cage lay shattered on the ground. Three of the four statues were still destroyed. Pit could feel Zephynn's heart race in the back. They walked further into the room. Nobody came over an intercom. No lasers fired. Silence and darkness reigned.

Pit saw the entrance to a long hallway ahead of them. He remembered seeing it the first time coming through, but he hadn't thought much about it. His top priority had been rescuing Zephynn. The group moved into the hallway, which led down stairs. Ladon's word raised a volume level, so that all four of them could hear it. Now Pit was shaking. Even Vinnia was getting a little unnerved. The hallway ended in a dead end and Pit felt around for a door to open. There were doors to both sides. He picked the one on the right and stumbled into a room lit by yellow.

"_A hot spring,_" Pit thought. He loved hot springs, but given his current situation, he really didn't need to use one. Ladon's voice raised again, and now sounded much more desperate.

"Reapers..." he said frantically, "Reapers..." Pit was shaking as he pushed open the next door. This one opened up on a large room, fairly well lit by dim lights overhead. As Pit looked across the room, he saw numerous things; an EZ Cannon rested upon a pillar to the left. Upon the right pillar were more busts of whatever deity was depicted in those stone statues from the first room. And on a pedestal on the other side of the room, there sat a small gem, glowing with the Roman numeral IV; 4.

Pit remembered that design. That was the same design as the small gem Dark Pit had lured Aria, Vinnia, Zephynn, and himself to the mountains with.

"That's what we're looking for," Pit whispered, pointing to the opposite side of the room. He walked towards the edge of where they were standing... and almost tumbled into a pit. Thankfully, Vinnia grabbed the back of his tunic before he could fall.

"Be careful!" she hissed. Pit nodded. He observed the room. It wasn't all that large, so he could probably make jumps to each platform easily. He stepped back a few steps and then charged forward, hitting the edge of the platform with the bottom of his sandal, and pushing off with a powerful kick. He landed directly on the platform with the EZ Cannon. He looked back at his friends and gave them a thumbs up. Then he prepared for the second jump. He made it successfully using the same technique.

He slowly approached the pedestal containing the Underworld Key. He reached out to grab it but then thought otherwise, suddenly taking in the fact that Ladon's Reaper talk had gotten louder, raising above a normal inside voice.

"Reapers... Reapers!" Ladon spoke distraughtly. Pit pulled out a few marbles from his tunic. In the dim light, he compared the marbles to the Underworld Key. When he finally came to one that matched the same size as the Key, he was left with a distraught decision. You see, Pit loved collecting marbles in his free time, and this marble that matched the Underworld Key was the prize of his collection.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he said under his breath, "Why does it have to come to this?" He just didn't know. How was he supposed to give up his favorite marble for a key to the Underworld? It was such a hard decision. Pit found himself remembering how he had come across the marble; he'd found it in the garbage disposal and cleaned it off and then found it was the rarest of rare marbles, forged in the lava pits of the Fiery Border. There was only one in the world.

And so, Pit just couldn't think of bringing himself to give it up. But he knew that he would have to. But then he thought again about just how rare this marble was and how sad he would be if he lost it. Finally, he found himself bringing the hand with the marble in it down to replace the Underworld Key. However, at the last second, Pit felt the urge to pull away, prevented only by the sudden scream from Ladon.

"REAPERS!" Ladon screamed. Pit dropped his marble in surprise, and it knocked the Underworld Key out of its position. By some miracle, the marble immediately managed to position itself in the place where the Underworld Key had been. The Underworld Key clanked on the floor by Pit's feet. At the same time, the same voice from long before blared over the intercom and the lights flashed on brightly.

"AHA!" it yelled, "I knew there was someone intruding! I just didn't want to bother getting out of bed! But now that you've forced me to get out of bed and disturbed my beauty sleep, you will all die!" While he was speaking, Pit snapped out of his shock and grabbed the Underworld Key, forgetting about his favorite marble. He jumped to the platform with the EZ Cannon, but the second he landed, a Reaper appeared from nowhere.

Pit raised the staff to fire a shot, but nothing came out. The reaper's scythe was raised above its head, ready to swing. Pit tried to fire one more time, but it didn't work. He had less than half a second to react. He dropped Ladon, grabbed the EZ Cannon, and blasted a charge shot directly into the Reaper's face.

Pit was thrown to the ground. The Reaper was thrown into the void. Its scythe flew in the air and narrowly missed Pit's head as it landed. Pit grabbed Ladon and quickly surveyed where his friends were. He didn't like it. Four reapers were surrounding them. He yelled out, "Get to the hot spring! They won't be able to hurt you!" With those words, he jumped, both weapons in hand and barely made the jump. He blasted another poerful charge shot from the EZ Cannon at the Reapers. Realizing that Ladon couldn't seem to attack, he stuck the Somewhat Staff in the new supply pack on his back and charged through the now open space.

He was met with a hallway full of Reapers. He meleed the first line and then blasted the second. The resilient enemies kept coming at him though, even though damaged. Pit ran into the hot spring room, where Vinnia, Zephynn, and Raven were standing in it. The Reapers followed him closely, and one's scythe almost hit Pit in the back. Pit immediately jumped into the hot spring, feeling its soothing properties envelope him. However, he did not let that distract him from the enemy at hand, and he backed his team up so that the Reapers could not reach them with their scythes.

At that moment, the sea of Reapers that were surrounding the group parted and a man with a cloaked face glided through the space. Said man seemed to wear nothing but a black cloak that covered his whole body, and he held an enormous scythe in his hand that put all of the others to shame. The man's head lifted at the group of four and a pair of red eyes appeared in the darkness of the hood. Pit had the EZ Cannon ready in case he attacked, seeing as how that scythe could very easily reach them.

"Well, I knew I should have killed you back at the temple when I actually had the chance," said the man, "Otherwise I wouldn't have been on the receiving end of the boss's wrath." He looked across them as Pit pondered his words.

"I see you've added another to your number," he said, "All the better. I can further satisfy my current lust for blood. Especially yours." He swung the scythe without warning, but Pit blocked the blade using the mass of the EZ Cannon. The man pulled the scythe back.

"You're the one who destroyed my other fortress six years ago," he said, "I remember watching you in that pitiful battle against the Great Reaper. I never heard the end of it from Pandora after that."

"Who are you?" Pit asked through gritted teeth.

"I'm glad you asked," said the man, yellow teeth spreading into a smile in the darkness of the hood, "I am Charon, the Reaper King. And soon you will be known far and wide as dead." He swung his scythe much faster this time. Pit blocked it again, which gave Vinnia enough time to fire a bolt from the tip of her lance. Charon was unfazed by the shot and pulled his scythe back again, then swinging it immediately to the other side. Pit shot a charge shot directly at Charon's face and then he and the others ducked the swing, but just barely.

The shot from the EZ Cannon exploded in Charon's face and he was stuck coughing for a few seconds. When he could see again, Pit and the others were gone, and the other Reapers had done nothing about.

"Don't just stand there!" Charon yelled, "Get them!" A sea of Reapers rallied to the cry and began following them up the stairs back to the first room, Charon close behind, striding along in the back. Unfortunately for them, that wasn't where Pit and company were headed. When the coast was clear, they all came out from behind the statues that they had hidden behind and met in the middle of the hot spring.

"We have about five seconds before they realize we're not there and come back for us," said Vinnia, "Now what?"

"We need to get out of here," said Pit.

"No duh!" said Vinnia, "And what do you suggest?" Zephynn spoke up, having been quiet and scared for most of the time.

"Th-there's a door over here," he said. Everyone turned to him as he touched the wall. His hand passed right through.

* * *

Charon charged back into the hot spring room, cursing himself for even bothering to put it in the blueprints. Of course he would forget that Reapers died as soon as they touched hot springs. He half expected to see that angel and his friends there, but was even more furious when they weren't. They seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"Search the complex!" Charon yelled, "Every room! I want them back here alive so that I can kill them all!" The Reapers complied and Charon looked across the hot spring room, wondering how they could have so easily found a way to escape his clutches. He cursed himself for being so stupid for a second time.

"I must find them," he said to himself, "They can't have gotten far."

* * *

Charon's assumption was correct. Pit and the others had just exited the secret corridor, which led them right out of the base of the hill. Pit decided to make sure nothing was following him and shot a charge shot directly down the corridor. Then, all four of them broke into a dead run to the east.

Twenty minutes later, they were all still running as hard as they could. Everyone was completely exhausted. They could still hear the chattering of Reapers coming from far behind them, but even as much of a lead as they had wouldn't be enough. They were all dead tired and would have to crash soon. It was at that moment that Pit spotted a structure not a mile ahead of them. He ran harder.

Then, about half a mile out, Zephynn tripped and fell to the ground unconscious. Vinnia then slowed to a halt and collapsed. Raven fell nearby her. Pit slowed to a stop so as to go and at least try to help his friends get farther, but before he could get as far as Vinnia, he fell to the ground himself. Right before he totally passed out, he saw someone, a figure, walking up to him. Then all went black.


	33. The Oracle of Palutena

Chapter 33: The Oracle of Palutena

Pit found himself lying on a bed when he woke up. He shot up in panic, remembering the events of the previous night. He had collapsed whilst trying to rescue his friends, who had done the same while they were being chased by those crazy Reapers. He looked around frantically, and to his relief, the others were all on separate beds in the same room, all still asleep. Ladon lay on the nightstand to his side, murmuring to itself again. He also took notice of three small gems on the dresser. He picked each one up, seeing that they were weapon gems, gems that were normally used to condense weapons to a smaller size.

In one of the gems was the Darkness Bow from the first Dark Agent the group had faced. Pit had taken it from her at the last second out of pure instinct. It wasn't all that powerful of a weapon, but it was a good back-up. The next one was the Aurum Palm, again, not as powerful as some other weapons Pit had seen, and the final was the EZ Cannon he had been using the previous night. This one was a bit stronger than the others.

He stowed them in his tunic and then a figure shadowed in the doorway. Pit grabbed Ladon and tried to fire a shot at the door, but nothing came out. He shook Ladon, but the Somewhat Staff did not respond.

"Well, it's quite rude of you to attempt to shoot me don't you think?" said a pleasant female voice coming from the figure. She stepped into the room, revealing an elderly woman. Despite her clearly evident age, she walked as though she was young.

"Who are you?" asked Pit.

"Why I'm the Oracle!" said the woman, "Nothing more, nothing less. I received the gift of future sight from Palutena nearly 150 years ago..."

"Wait, did you just say Palutena?" asked Pit, "As in, the goddess of light?"

"Of course I said Palutena," said the Oracle, "What other Palutena is there?" Pit fell silent and the Oracle took her opportunity to move on.

"Anyways," said the Oracle, "Now that you're here, you should wake your friends and come eat something. Then I will answer the answers to any questions you may have." Pit's heart raced as the woman shuffled out of the room. Perhaps she could answer the question about Dark Pit. However, he put the matter out of his head for the time being, as his stomach growled. He jumped out of bed and quickly set to getting the others out of theirs.

* * *

The three demigods were not well rested. The run the previous night made it so that Raven took five minutes to pull herself out of bed. Zephynn nearly fell and hit his head on a nightstand when he stood up. Vinnia could barely lift her head. It took a grand total of an hour to get all of them up and armed and down the hallways of the temple towards where the smell of food was coming from. They located the dining room, just across from the kitchen, where the Oracle was making what smelled like a delicious breakfast.

The second they sat down, Vinnia's head hit the table and Zephynn's went down in his arms. Raven simply stared at the wall emotionless. Pit waited hungrily.

The Oracle brought in a platterful of eggs and breakfast meats. She had also brought cereal in case anyone was a vegetarian. No one was. Pit dug in hungrily, while the others started eating slowly. They found the old woman's cooking to be rather delicious. It perked Zephynn up long enough to get something into his stomach. Vinnia ate very slowly, and Raven barely touched her food.

"Eat up you two!" the Oracle exclaimed, "The food's not going to force itself into your mouths!" When the two girls didn't respond, the Oracle simply walked over and shoved both of their plates in their faces, effectively waking them both up. Pit couldn't withhold a snicker. Vinnia shot a nasty glare at him and he shut up.

With that done, everyone ate steadily and had their fill. The Oracle then led them to a much more open room, adorned with many relics and statues dedicated to Palutena. Pit gazed in awe at the temple's contents. The only temples he had seen dedicated to Palutena were in Skyworld. It made him feel warm and fuzzy inside to see that people recognized her so willingly on the earth. Then he began to think about what might be happening to Palutena at the moment and turned to the Oracle, who was now sitting on her knees in front of a fire pit.

"So, you are also on a quest, but this one primarily focuses on saving the gods," said the Oracle. Pit's eyebrow raised at the word 'also.' Had the Dark Triad also come through here?

"Yes, that's right," said Pit, "We heard from a Seer girl that they are being imprisoned in the Underworld."

"This is true," said the Oracle, "Such visions I have seen. Darkness surrounds the gods. There they are being held captive. You have recently gone by a fortress of one of this darkness's commanders and received a key to the Underworld have you not?" Pit slipped the key out of his tunic and showed it to her. The Oracle nodded.

"And that is how you ended up here," said the Oracle, "But enough of the past. Let us look to the future. Give me a question and my sight will answer it." Pit thought a moment, looking at his friends. Vinnia could tell what he was thinking and she nodded for him to go on.

"Ma'am," said Pit, "There is a dark angel..."

"Yes, I met him a week or two ago," said the Oracle.

"Well, he and I have been in a few skirmishes in the last few weeks," said Pit, "Set off by him wanting to kill me for whatever reason. He said to me I should know why. But... I can't figure it out. So please, can you tell me what the heck happened between us?" The Oracle stared at Pit and then the pit. Her eyes seemed to glow.

"Xintut," she said crisp, harsh, and sudden, raising her head, "Xintut is where your questions shall be answered. There you shall understand what has caused this undying hatred. And from there, your mission will progress." Pit remembered the name of that town. The staff had asked him if he had been there before just days prior.

"Where is this Xintut?" asked Pit. The Oracle stared at him.

"That is not for me to answer," said the Oracle, "It's for this." She pulled a map out of her robes and threw it at Pit's feet. Pit opened it up and looked upon it.

He glanced across the different areas of the map. He saw that they were in the northern Great Plains still, just west of the Shrouded Forest, where they had seen the Cyclops monsters for the first time. Pit found Xintut far to the southeast of them. Pit realized that the fastest way to get there would be to cut across the Shrouded Forest, which he really didn't want to do again.

"Thank you ma'am," said Pit, closing the map. The Oracle bowed.

"You are very welcome," said the Oracle, "Now I would hurry and leave while you've still got the sun in in your favor. Those Reapers will come after you if you're not long gone by night."

"Speaking of them," Vinnia spoke up, "Why didn't they destroy the temple?" The Oracle smiled.

"Reapers, or any Underworld enemy for that matter, cannot enter the sacred grounds set out for a god," said the Oracle, "Which is how I've survived so long so near to one of their bases." And with that, she left them in the large main room of the temple to gather their thoughts and prepare to leave.


	34. The Poisoned River

Chapter 34: The Poisoned River

The team set out almost immediately. Pit decided that entering the Shrouded Forest was inevitable, so they simply moved east into the forest. For the greater portion of the day, they were busy trying to find their way through the thick woods, which seemed even more ominous than they had been before. It was for good reason too; Raven split the river preventing them from entering the forest's west side, for the very reason, she explained, that as the river passed through the forest, it became poisonous, and those who touched the water would fall into an indefinite coma. How she knew that, none of them knew.

The wind helped them to get the least lost as possible. Needless to say, overconfidence is a bad thing when it comes to navigating spooky woods. While Zephynn was the clear choice for a guide since he could easily read the winds, Vinnia continually tried to one-up him, which is how they stumbled upon a large dip in the middle of the woods. Vinnia tried leading them into some foliage, but then they all ended up falling into a pit that had an enormous hole in its center.

"What the heck is this?" asked Vinnia. Pit stared at the area. This was where he had battled the Gigaclopse in the first place. The stone was noticeably missing from its previous location in the middle of the clearing.

"It leads to the Underworld," said Pit, referencing the hole, "You do not want to fall into that thing."

"So I figured," said Vinnia, "Let's get out of here. This place is starting to creep me out." They climbed out of the pit and continued on their way east. Then they came across a river running in between the trees.

"Odd place for a river," Zephynn murmured.

"Remember, it's poisonous," said Raven, "Don't let a drop get on your skin."

"How about we just get away from it?" asked Pit.

"I second that notion," said Raven. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Let's see that map Pit," said Vinnia suddenly. Pit threw the map from the temple to her, and she laid on the ground a very considerable distance from the river.

"Look, we're going to have to cross this river eventually," she said, pointing to the river on the map, and tracing it along its path. It pretty much had them boxed in. The only way they wouldn't be crossing the river is if they went all the way around the west side of the world, but that would take forever, and it would involve going to the south, which Zephynn was totally against.

"We may as well cross it now," said Vinnia, "I mean, no use waiting is there? Raven can split it and we'll be perfectly fine." Pit nodded in extreme reluctance. Zephynn shook his head in disbelief. Raven herself hesitated.

"I was surprised when I was able to hold that last river up," she said, "My power isn't as powerful with fresh water."

"From what you've said so far, this water is far from fresh," said Vinnia, "Let's do this." And so, Raven focused her powers and then reached out to the river with her mind. She willed it to split. Then, a piercing shriek broke her concentration. A reaper suddenly barrelled through the trees at them. Out of pure instinct, Vinnia stabbed it in its center, but three more appeared from behind the trees. Reapettes appeared from nowhere and circled them.

Zephynn had his sword out and ready, while Pit pulled out a random weapon gem and summoned its weapon, happening upon the Darkness Bow. Raven backed up into her friends as two more Reapers appeared from the other side of the river. Then Monoeyes and Miks appeared in the sky, and Slimeclopses covered the ground around them. A lone Cyclops in chain mail armor and holding a powerful looking axe marched up to the group from out of the trees.

"We', is dese da maggots dat 'ave b'en rompin' alls o'er da boss's stuff?" the Cyclops said in an uneducated accent, "What a joke!" It doesn't take a genius to know that all four of them were shocked that the Cyclops could speak.

"Sic 'em!" the Cyclops yelled. All of the enemies charged inwards at once. There was only one instinct for three of four of them; fight back. Vinnia blasted laser after laser at the enemies trying to get on top of her and Zephynn struggled to defend himself using only his sword. Pit was busy trying to defend Raven who was panicking, but using a bow that wasn't nearly as powerful as what he was used to was difficult against such a large group of enemies.

"Everyone, cloaks, now!" Zephynn yelled, seeing that they were getting nowhere with what they were doing. Nobody hesitated. The wind brushed around them and they reappeared fifty feet away from the battle. While that bought them a little bit of time, that time was wasted quickly. They had teleported right to the bank of the river, and Zephynn almost lost his balance when they materialized.

Vinnia grabbed his arm and prevented a tumble into the water below. In the time it took to do that, the Reapettes were already on them. Pit switched weapons quickly, trying something he had never done before; wielding two at a time. The EZ Cannon under his left arm and the Aurum Palm on his right, he charged at the enemies approaching them, doing nothing but firing. Then a Reaper scythe hit the EZ Cannon and he was knocked to the side. He saw the talking Cyclops' axe come down on him, but the EZ Cannon somehow blocked the chop without even sustaining a dent.

Zephynn wiped out two Reapers in one sword stroke when they came at him. His blade seemed to lighten in his hand as he frantically sliced through his enemies. Then he was shot to the ground by a Monoeye's bolt and then thrown around by the tongue of a Mik, hitting a tree and causing his vision to blur and grow fuzzy for a few seconds. That was all one of the Reapers needed to raise its scythe over his head and prepare to kill him. However, the blade never came down on him.

Zephynn's vision cleared to see that Vinnia's lance point was four inches from his nose, sticking right through the middle of the reaper. The fourth reaper however, was directly behind her. Zephynn summoned the winds from his ring in panic and blasted the reaper backwards and into the river. That had also loosened Vinnia's ponytail and her hair let out. Vinnia didn't seem to notice (either that or she ignored it) and charged back into battle.

Zephynn was stunned for a moment by how much more beautiful Vinnia looked without that ponytail, her blond hair flowing as she turned and stabbed enemies at a rapid pace. However, he shook it off and picked his sword up again, and also the band that had kept her hair in place, and then slashed through three Miks coming his direction with their tongues ready.

Raven in the meantime was holding her own against several enemies, including the talking Cyclops, who had gotten bored of trying to hit Pit (now lying on the ground in exhaustion from dodging so many blows without being able to get a hit in) and was now after the next weak looking target. And by holding her own, I mean to say that she was hiding in the foliage really well. The enemies could not find her.

Then, a Reapette spotted her and charged at the bushes that she was hiding in. The rest of the enemies followed suit and Cyclops laughed.

"Li'l girl!" he laughed, "You's a weak li'l girl!" Raven, in a mix of panic and anger, shut her eyes and channeled her energy to the river water, flinging a huge wave at the enemies approaching her. When she opened her eyes, they were all knocked out, lying on the ground totally unconscious. The Cyclops, who had not gotten wet at all, stared at her with his one eye.

"How'd ya do dat?" he asked in surprise. He didn't wait for an answer. He simply charged at her with his axe raised high, prepared for a swing. However, he got a sharp pain in the leg first.

Vinnia had stabbed her lance into his leg. He gave a howl of pain and then swung his axe down at Vinnia, who was just withdrawing her lance. Zephynn got in the axe's way and countered it with a powerful stroke from his sword. After a few parries, Zephynn was backed towards the river and about five feet from falling in. He locked sword blade with axe blade, struggling to hold on. The Cyclops went for another swing of his axe, and Zephynn braced himself. Then he felt himself being pushed out of the way. Vinnia stood in his place and countered the swing from the axe with her lance.

Her lance was knocked out of her hand and wedged into the dirt near Raven. The Cyclops screamed in anger.

"Alls of you's 'll not see da sun tomorruh!" the Cyclops roared. Within a split second, he hit an unarmed Vinnia with the back of his axe and knocked her into the air. Raven and Zephynn watched in absolute terror and she slammed into the river.

As the Cyclops laughed at his victory, Raven's terror turned to anger. Despite having no experience with a lance, she pulled Vinnia's out of the ground.

"Hey you!" she yelled. The Cyclops turned. She threw the lance like a javelin. By some stroke of luck, she hit his eye. The Cyclops fell to the ground in agony. Raven walked right up to his head and pulled the lance out of the eye. Then she stabbed it back in with both hands. The Cyclops screamed in pain. She repeated the process three more times before the Cyclops pleaded for mercy.

"Please, water girl!" he cried, "Please show dis poor old Cyclops s'mercy! Please put me's in one o' dose comas 'fore I die!"

"Not likely," Raven responded, stabbing the lance right down his throat. The Cyclops disintegrated without a sound.

Then Raven remembered Vinnia and threw the lance aside. Immediately, she closed her eyes and scanned the river for life. Then, when she found the life she was looking for, she split the river and rushed in between the waves, using all of her willpower to keep them up. She quickly dried all the water off of Vinnia and sent it back into the waves to her sides, and then pulled her out of the river with what strength she had left. Once she was ten feet away, she let it go and stopped to catch her breath.

Zephynn ran over.

"Is she alright?" asked Zephynn.

"She's in a coma," Raven said, tears beginning to flow, "And I don't know how to cure it." Raven's sobs were the only thing that broke the silence that followed. Zephynn squeezed the hair band in his pocket, only able to hope for a miracle. Then Pit came up.

"The staff has been ranting again," he said, seemingly not taking notice of Vinnia's condition, "Something about a temple to the north..."

"Pit, can you not see that Vinnia is in a coma right now?" Zephynn said, standing up with sudden boldness, "How can you be worrying about temples when she's in this condition?"

"You didn't let me finish," said Pit, "Ladon, tell them."

"I... I believe that to the north, there is a temple," said Ladon, "A temple dedicated to the magic goddess, Hecate. She is the goddess of the magic of light and nature. Surely in her temple we will find some cure for what this river water has done." Zephynn stared at the staff.

"How would you know that?" he asked, "You're just a Somewhat Staff that calls itself Ladon. And how do we know this Hecate isn't like Norulus and has a death trap ready for us?"

"Right now, any solution is a good one," said Raven through her tears, "I say we go." Zephynn still looked reluctant but finally nodded in agreement.

"Let's get going then," said Pit, looking down at Vinnia, "We don't have any time to lose."


	35. The Temple of Hecate

Chapter 35: The Temple of Hecate

The journey to said Temple of Hecate took longer than they had anticipated. Pit having to carry Vinnia on his back was a hindrance. Zephynn carried her lance It seemed as though Zephynn was the only one who had taken notice of her hair. The others didn't think much of it. He squeezed the hair band in his hand and cursed himself for letting her push him out of the way.

Like Raven, though he didn't know it, he had grown close to Vinnia. He looked at her not just as a friend, but as a sister. It all seemed that way anyways. Ever since the conversation in Aria's home, he had felt so much closer to her. He almost wished that they were truly siblings. That said, she still scared him some. He also found it odd how he looked up to her when he was really much older.

It was that way for all of the party members. Vinnia, despite her overly cruel and demanding personality, was really the glue that held the team together. If she weren't there, there would be no doubt that the team would fall apart pretty quickly. She was the connecting line between the other three. Despite her nature, the others were grateful that she was around. And for these reasons they were headed for this temple.

They arrived at the temple as the moon was taking its rise. As they walked into it, they saw typical things for a temple. There were altars lining the walls and pillars to hold it up. In a way, it looked sort of like the North Wind Temple. However, bookshelves lined the walls between altars, covered with books of all sorts. Books also floated in the air from shelf to shelf. At the back of the temple, a large glowing sphere with inconceivable words circling it sat upon a pedestal. As they walked further into the temple, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Halt! Who goes there?" it called. Pit almost dropped Vinnia in surprise. In front of them materialized a transparent bluish glowing figure. The figure took shape and they saw that it was female and didn't have legs; however, she wore a dress. The figure squinted at them through narrow glasses and her hair was tied up into a huge bun. She held a book under her right arm.

"Who are you all?" she asked. There was a moment of silence before Zephynn stepped forward.

"I am Zephynn, son of Phyra," he said. He gestured to Raven and Pit, "This is Raven, daughter of Poseidon, and that's Pit, an angel in service to the light goddess. And the girl on Pit's back is Vinnia, daughter of Viridi." The glowing ghost woman squinted at them even harder.

"Three demigods and an angel..." she said, "What brings you here?"

"We're looking for a cure to the river water," Pit spoke up, "The girl on my back fell in." The ghost woman's eyes receded to normal size and she shook her head.

"I'm afraid I've lost the antidote recipe somewhere in the shelves," she said, "Ever since Lady Hecate vanished, the books have been going haywire. You can look for it if you want, but it might require a bit of reorganizing." Ladon floated from the sack at Pit's side instinctively and spun around the room, staring at all of the books. If there was one thing in his memory that he knew for a fact, it was the fact that in his past life, he had absolutely loved books. As he stared at one of the bookshelves, one of the books came up to him and froze in place. The bindings rose and shut as it made some sort of chattering noise. Ladon could somehow understand.

"_Lord!_" it cried, "_What has brought you here?_"

"Lord?" Ladon questioned, "How do you mean?" The book chattered again.

"_The goddess's blood runs through you!_" the book cried, "_I can feel it!_" Ladon's eye stared at the book in shock. "_The goddess's blood runs through me..._" he thought. Then he realized and asked the book, "Am I... a demigod? Son of Hecate?"

"_I can see it within you!_" the book cried. The book's chatter rose throughout the temple and all of the books stopped to stare at Ladon.

"Well, it appears your staff has some affiliation with the goddess," said the ghost woman, "Stupid books and all their chattering..."

"_Lord! Lord! What is your command lord?_" the books all chanted. Ladon, while hearing the book's words, was quite shaken by the news given to him by the book. If he was the son of Hecate... and Lilia was also a child of Hecate... that made them half-siblings.

The thirst for vengeance once again rose in him, this time even stronger than ever before. He had felt it many times since that last battle against Dark Pit. However, he quelled the fire in his heart quickly, once again managing to convince himself that it was wrong, and responded to the books' chanting.

"Is one of you the antidote to cure the spell of the river water?" he asked loudly and clearly. A book with red binding flew up to him.

"_Yes lord, I am here!_" it said gleefully, "_What shall I do for you?_"

"I would like you to give the recipe to that ghost woman down there," said Ladon.

"My name is Fauna," the ghost woman said in annoyance, "One of the spirits of the magical world." The book flew down to her and rested in her ghostly hand.

"Oh, here it is!" she said, a smile spreading across her face for the first time, "I'll get right on it for you!" She floated to the back of the room where there was a cauldron next to the large ball. She patted a bed nearby the cauldron and Pit took Vinnia over to it and laid her down. She was shuddering. Fauna then moved over to another shelf, this one holding many different mixtures and ingredients. The book was open, floating near where she could read it as she threw in seemingly random ingredients.

Zephynn, Raven, and Pit stared at her in disturbance.

"Uh... are you sure this is safe?" asked Zephynn trying to get a look in the cauldron. Fauna pushed him away.

"It's perfectly safe!" she exclaimed. A huge explosion of smoke burst from the cauldron as she threw another random ingredient in. There was a pause and then she continued, taking a glance at the recipe a few times. The others just stared in terror.

After about fifteen minutes, she shut the book and sent it floating back to the shelf. Then she grabbed a bottle from the shelf and scooped some of the drink into it. It was constantly changing colors. She looked at it closely and then went to the shelf one last time, grabbing the sugar and dumping the whole container in. The bottle released an explosion of smoke.

"Okay, seriously, is this safe?" asked Zephynn anxiously.

"Of course it is," said Fauna, "I put in the sugar to neutralize the poison." Raven suddenly looked sick and Zephynn had to support her to keep her on her feet. Pit, on the inside, was terrified, but on the outside, he just stared as Fauna brought the bottle over to Vinnia and spawned a spoon out of nowhere and stirred it before taking a spoonful and putting it up to Vinnia's mouth. She forced it down her throat.

Vinnia choked and sputtered before sitting up, her eyes opened wide.

"What happened!?" she cried out, "Where am I?" She looked around the temple and everyone stared at her. Raven then shot at her and hugged her tightly.

"I was so worried!" she cried. Zephynn could only smile. Pit breathed a sigh of relief. Fauna pulled a ladle from nowhere.

"Excellent!" she exclaimed, "It worked! Now, I'll just make the stew and you can all stay the night!" She began throwing more ingredients into the cauldron and then stirred it with the ladle. The four party members stared at Fauna blankly, seeing as how she had not bothered to even dump out or wash the cauldron. Needless to say, none of them had stew that night.


	36. Onward to Xintut

Chapter 36: Onward to Xintut

The team left early the next morning sent off with regards by Fauna. Rather than trying to cook them stew in the same cauldron she had mixed the antidote in, she had gotten the hint and made them breakfast separately. The team was much obliged and they were off on full stomachs.

Their first step, according to a unanimous decision, was to get the heck out of the Shrouded Forest; they didn't want another incident with the river. Just in case though, Fauna had given them a few extra bottles of the antidote. "It won't spoil!" she had said. She had also given Pit a pair of Fairy Orbitars, saying, "You need them more than we do here!" The group had thanked her for her kindness. The second they were out of the trees they had breathed a sigh of relief. Then they directed themselves to the south.

It took a day to reach the river outside of the forest (which was not poisonous according to Raven). They camped out by the bank. The next day they crossed it and entered another, much less ominous, wood. The ground beneath their feet was muddy as they travelled. Once they came across a bog, and another time, Raven had to bail Zephynn out of a sinking swamp. Despite difficulties, they managed to keep moving forwards through the woods. Unfortunately for them, things would never get easier.

As the group walked under the cool and serene treetops, Vinnia stopped.

"Something's up," said Vinnia, looking around. The rest of the team turned around.

"What do you mean?" asked Pit.

"My senses are heightened by the forest," said Vinnia swiveling her head around, "Something is approaching us... fast!" Right on cue, something lunged at Zephynn and attempted to strike him. He ducked and the thing hit a tree. Immediately afterwards, fireballs burst from the treetops and Raven was forced to use what power she could to fend them off. Zephynn attempted to strike his attacker, but the attacker was too fast and was behind him before he could strike. Zephynn was on the ground in seconds.

The attackers revealed themselves. Out of the tree jumped a man wielding a Bomber Arm, and speeding up next to him was another man wielding Brawler Claws. Both of them wore black jumpsuits and black capes. The Brawler Claws guy wore half of a mask on the right side of his face while the other wore the same thing on the opposite. Both of their eyes were red and they had nasty grins.

Vinnia helped Zephynn up as Pit summoned the EZ Cannon.

"Who are you!?" Pit asked, even though he knew full well that they were dark agents.

"You haven't figured it out?" said the Bomber Arm guy suavely, "We happen to be..."

"The fastest team..." the other guy put in.

"The world has seen!" the Bomber Arm guy finished. They slammed their right fists, the ones with the weapons on them, together.

"We are the speed demons!" they said in unison, "Servants of the Underworld!" Zephynn had stood up by now. His back was bruised from the Brawler Claws strike. His sword was at the ready still. Vinnia spun her lance in her hand, while Pit readied a charge shot from the EZ Cannon. Raven stayed behind Vinnia.

"Bring it on dweebs!" Vinnia yelled. The Brawler Claws guy seemed to appear right in front of her face. Before she could even react he had punched her back into Raven and both of them fell to the ground. Zephynn attempted to strike the guy with the Brawler Claws, but the Bomber Arm Guy was right on top of him. Pit tried to blast a charge shot from the EZ Cannon, but all that did was make Zephynn duck. The Bomber Arm Guy was long gone by the time the shot got there.

Pit found himself blocking that guy's melee strike. He attempted to strike back but the Bomber Arm guy dodged around him and hit him in the back. Vinnia was attempting to block the strikes from the Brawler Claws guy, but to no avail. She was getting pummeled. Zephynn then flung a sword beam at the Brawler Claws guy. While it missed, it got his attention and he rushed at Zephynn, only to run face first into a wall of wind.

He got up quick too, but he was put on the defensive as Zephynn relentlessly swung his sword. Pit was still trying to subdue the Bomber Arm guy, but kept getting knocked to the ground. Soon he would be finished. Vinnia, watching the battle while trying to recover from her injuries, grabbed her lance and stabbed it into the ground, willing the world to shake.

That knocked everyone off balance. The Bomber Arm guy was thrown to the ground and the Brawler Claws guy and Zephynn were thrown on top of each other. Pit was knocked to his feet and fired a charge shot at the Bomber Arm guy immediately. He was thrown thirty feet down the path. The Bomber Arm guy was back up quickly however and began charging again. Vinnia pulled her lance out of the ground feeling refreshed. Not only had she caused an earthquake but she had absorbed the earth's power too. She got another idea.

"Raven climb a tree now," Vinnia said to Raven. Raven, having been hiding again, nodded and jumped up into the branches of a tree, struggling to pull herself up. Vinnia looked around the trees of the clearing, blocking out the battles between Zephynn and the Brawler Claws guy and Pit and the Bomber Arm guy. She focused on the trees. She willed them to breathe, and to live. Then she shot her eyes open and immediately, the forest began to rumble. Out of nowhere, ten trees pulled themselves out of the ground, one of them the one Raven was in. The tree pulled her into its branches and all ten of them slowly moved into a circle around the battle.

The speed demons were terrified.

"Wh-wh-what's going on!?" the Brawler Claws guy cried.

"What is this black magic?" the Bomber Arm guy asked similarly. Zephynn spun his sword in his hand and pointed it at the two dark agents.

"It looks like the tables have turned," said Zephynn narrowing his eyes, "It seems Viridi's agents are angry with you." The trees closed in on the five of them. Vinnia put her hand forth and pointed at the two of them. Two of the trees walked forward swiftly and grabbed them both by the back of the neck.

"You don't know what power you're up against," said Vinnia, "There is resistance on its way, and it will render your sorry Underworld allies useless." The two dark agents seemed terrified now.

"Please let us go!" they cried, "We'll do anything!"

"Hand over your weapons first of all," said Pit. They disarmed themselves quickly and threw their weapons to the ground. Pit picked both of them up and turned them into weapon gems, also stowing away his EZ Cannon. He nodded to Vinnia and she had them throw the two dark agents in the dirt.

"Now don't you two speed demons go around saying that we weren't nice to you," said Zephynn, "We could have killed you easily." Vinnia ordered a tree silently to raise a foot over them as he said those words. Then as the dark agents screamed like little girls, she had it recede. She further summoned vines from the ground to tie them together. Then she finished by putting all the trees back in their proper places and returning them to normal.

As the party walked off, as soon as they were out of hearing distance, Pit spoke up.

"Vinnia, how in the world did you do that?" he asked in disbelief, "I didn't know you could control trees!"

"Of course I can control trees," said Vinnia skirting ahead of them, quite satisfied with her actions, "How do you think I got you guys off of that mountain after Dark Pit pummeled you?" No more words were spoken after that, as the memory was a topic too cursed to talk about. It was a long and silent walk through the forest and towards Xintut from that moment onwards.


	37. Forgiveness

Chapter 37: Forgiveness

The group arrived in Xintut later than they had planned. A small army of Monoeyes had attacked them and given them a bit of trouble. Raven twisted her ankle trying to dodge a bolt. While she insisted she was fine, Vinnia had them take it slow to avoid further injury. They arrived as the sun set in the west. As they walked into the town, Zephynn looked to the west for no other reason than to watch the sunset in the west.

The town was average sized, not quite as big as Atrusha, but much bigger than Has. Buildings were lined up evenly, and it seemed like a good place to live. Pit felt something much deeper as they entered the town. This place had seen bad things before. The guards gave them looks as they walked in. Many seemed ready to retire from the job and go home. The group moved along the streets and found a hotel in town that had vacancy. They walked in to find a nicely kept bar.

Pit walked up to the bartender.

"We need two rooms," he said. The barkeep looked through his check-in records and looked up at Pit.

"I have a few rooms left," he said, handing the angel two sets of keys, "Down the hall through the door. They should be the first rooms on the left." Pit thanked the barkeep and handed a set of keys to Vinnia. They went to their rooms, Vinnia and Raven going into one, and Pit and Zephynn in the other. Before Pit retired to bed, he felt a twinge from within him. Dark Pit was nearby. However, for once he ignored the sense and simply drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Pit woke up the next morning to find that Zephynn was swinging his sword around in the air in a clear space between the beds. He spun and saw that Pit had gotten up.

"Hey," he said, lowering his sword. Pit got out of bed and donned his tunic.

"Tell the girls I went out for a walk," he said. Zephynn had no time to respond before he walked out the door. Shrugging, he grabbed his sheath and sheathed his sword, leaving the room as well. Pit had already left the hallway when he exited. Looking up and down the hallway, he saw no other tenants. He knocked on the girls' door. Vinnia answered it and silently motioned for him to come in.

"We're trying to figure out what the heck Pit wants here," said Vinnia, shutting the door behind her.

"That's easy," said Zephynn, "The Oracle told him to come here, so he did. Do you need a better reason?"

"Yes," said Vinnia, "He knows things we don't. Look how he's carrying all those weapons around. Why?"

"Because his staff... I mean, Ladon, isn't working?" Zephynn responded.

"There must be more of a reason," said Vinnia, "I'm going to find out." She got up to leave but Zephynn stopped her. The rising sun seemed to reflect off of his light blue eyes through the window.

"He has stuff to attend to," said Zephynn.

"And he's not sharing it with us," said Vinnia, "We're his team. If he's struggling with something, he needs to tell us."

"Vinnia..." Zephynn tried to stop her but she walked out of the room. He looked over at Raven. She got up without trouble and they both walked out as well. They found Vinnia staring through door in the hallway. Zephynn and Raven came up on her sides and saw what she was gaping at.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." Vinnia said under her breath. Sitting at a table in the center of the bar were Magnus, Gaol, and Aria, all staring back at them just as shocked.

* * *

Pit walked into the square where many people were simply going about their daily business. Light conversations were had and merchants tried to sell their wares along the edges of the square. The sun was ascending steadily from the east. Pit walked towards the center of the square and looked around, analyzing the area. His head began to hurt and his stomach twinged again, not in anticipation of Dark Pit though. He saw an alleyway behind him, and suddenly everything around him began to fade.

Replacing the fading scene was another version of the square. Pit's eyes were brought to tears as he looked around it. In the twilight of the vision, he saw countless dead bodies on the ground. Underworld enemies hovered over the town, threatening the people and destroying the place. Then he saw a light descend from the heavens. He himself appeared in the center of the square, wielding a Palutena Bow. He began to turn and run around, shooting enemies out of the sky expertly.

Then Pit suddenly saw a Monoeye hovering over a girl with blue hair who had just run into the square. She was preparing to run from it. Pit saw time seem to slow down in the vision. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a man in a black cloak covering his body run from the alleyway behind him. Then he saw himself taking aim at the Monoeye. His head hurt badly. He remembered this moment. He had thought so hard about his target. The bolt shot. Pit wanted to scream but knew that it was futile. The arrow had been nocked too low.

He watched helplessly, eyes wide as the bolt flew at the girl and the Monoeye. The arrow homed upwards... right into the girl's stomach. Pit's legs felt weak and his eyes shut immediately. He fell to his knees, only being able to see that he had run off in the past without even bothering to see if he had hit his target or not. Tears poured from his eyes as he heard a scream.

"Lilia... NO!" When his eyes opened again, he was still in the square, but it was a later time. The sun was setting, making the vision look even more like twilight. Pit saw that the Underworlders had left. Now he was watching a gruesome scene. Even more bodies littered the ground. He looked to where the girl he had shot had been standing. He saw, almost not surprised, that Dark Pit was sitting down with her head in his lap. He realized that this wasn't a memory like the previous vision; this _was_ a vision. He didn't understand where it was coming from but that didn't matter. He walked closer to Dark Pit, noticing two men, one the man with the black cloak, who had now been stabbed deeply in the side and was bleeding badly, and the other, one standing over him, tears pouring from his eyes.

Pit listened in on the conversation and tears came to his own.

"I knew you wouldn't forget me," she said weakly. Her voice echoed through the vision and in Pit's head.

"Never," Dark Pit replied.

"I'm sorry... but I don't think I'll make it," she said.

"Don't think like that," said Dark Pit, "We'll get you help. We'll stop this bleeding."

"I always loved how you were always concerned about me," said the girl. Dark Pit's next action was to pull a sapphire ring from a pouch at his side. His hands trembled. Pit's tears flowed nonstop. This was what had happened.

"I need to ask you something," Dark Pit said shakily, "I have to know. Will you marry me?" Pit hadn't realized that he had fallen on his knees during this. His guilt was worse than it had ever had been. He understood Dark Pit's pain and why the hatred had come out. His heart was lower than his feet, far below the surface. He had killed the dark angel's love, perhaps the one person he held closest to his heart. Pit wished he had allowed Dark Pit to kill him for this moment in time, especially after the last words he heard.

"Of course..." the girl with blue hair responded. Pit's eyes shut and he sobbed. He knelt there in the middle of the square crying to himself. The vision faded and revealed to him that people were looking at him as though he were a maniac. Pit, still crying on the inside, stood up and dried his tears, and immediately walked off to find the graveyard, ignoring the staring people around him. He had amends to make.

* * *

In the meantime, while Pit was off doing his business, the other three members of his party were having a stare off full of intensity and shock. Then Vinnia grabbed her lance and brandished it at the three of them. The bartender screamed and ducked under the counter. She noticed that none of them were armed, but Magnus still, after a few tense moments, stood against her, raising a fist. Before anything could happen.

"Oh no you don't!" Aria said, suddenly stepping in between them and looking towards Vinnia, "Look, we're not here to fight you. We're here for personal reasons."

"And you think I care?" asked Vinnia fiercely, "You left us for this pack of fools. What makes you think I'll listen to you?" Aria was silenced. Then Raven stepped forwards.

"Vinnia... let's not do this," said Raven, "I mean, there's innocent people around here. We wouldn't want to be responsible for any injuries." Vinnia's lance lowered a little, remembering the army base.

"I've got it!" Zephynn exclaimed. The whole group turned to him. He pulled a deck of cards from within his shirt and took them out of the box, shuffling them with the wind a few times. "We'll have a game of Go Fish!" Everyone looked confused.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Zephynn exclaimed. Magnus spoke up.

"You know what?" asked Magnus, "Why not? Let's relax a bit." Gaol stood up and spoke.

"By the way," she said, "Before we start, where did you get that deck of cards?" Zephynn looked across the other five members of the group and then at the cards.

"Uh... you don't need to know that," said Zephynn, "I mean, it's not like I know about the existence interdimensional holes or anything." Everyone stared at him blankly.

"I'm watching you," said Gaol under her breath as Zephynn sat down and dealt the cards.

* * *

Pit found his way to the graveyard with no difficulty thanks to the hints from townsfolk. His twin sense grew more powerful as he came closer. Dark Pit was at the graveyard. It may have been a coincidence that they were there at the same time, but Pit was going to make the most of the situation. Perhaps he could apologize to both of them at the same time.

He saw the dark angel kneeling by a grave straight into the graveyard. Pit set Ladon down by a toolshed and approached his twin. Dark Pit stood and turned around and they stared for a few moments.

"I... I'm sorry that I couldn't remember," said Pit, "I'm sorry it took this long to realize what I had done to hurt you so badly. Otherwise I would have apologized a lot sooner. It kills me inside too to know what I've done... I guess I deserved death at your hands... you have a right to hate me..."

"I don't have any right to hate you," Dark Pit interrupted, "I promised her that I wouldn't become someone else. In hating you, I broke that promise and nearly destroyed my team and my mission." Pit didn't have time to say anything in response.

"You are not free of guilt in her death," said Dark Pit, "However, as hard as it is, I need to say it." Pit watched and listened as Dark Pit breathed deeply and said, "I forgive you." Those three words caused the waterworks to spout again from Pit's eyes. Then, Pit threw his arms around Dark Pit and squeezed him tightly.

"This is isn't a hug-it-out moment," Dark Pit gasped as Pit clung tighter. Pit felt Dark Pit pushing him away and let go. They fell backwards from each other. Pit saw Dark Pit catch his balance before he could step on a grave with blue flowers laid across it. The words on the grave were blurry to him, and he remembered in frustration that he couldn't read. He struggled with a contorted face to read the words but Dark Pit spoke up.

"You can't read it, can you," said Dark Pit.

"Um... yeah," said Pit in embarrassment.

"If you came to apologize to her, I'll read it for you," said Dark Pit. He turned to the grave, but then Pit spoke.

"Wait a minute, you can read?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes," said Dark Pit, not turning his face away from the headstone.

"I... I'm sorry, go on," said Pit, his face falling a little.

"Here lies Lilia Hecatesdaughter," said Dark Pit, "A cheerful friend and bride-to-be. She was loved all around her." There was a pause before he spoke again. "I carved those words myself." Pit knelt down by the grave.

"I'm really sorry this happened," said Pit, speaking to both the grave and Dark Pit, "When I came into the service of my Lady, Palutena, I swore to protect the humans with my life. I had only ever come close to breaking that oath once. Now that I know I have broken it, my guilt is more than it has ever been. If you were alive, I would plead for forgiveness." He felt Dark Pit's hand on his shoulder.

"Lilia was a forgiving person," said Dark Pit, "I'm sure she would have forgiven you." Pit stood up and said, "Thank you." Then there was a voice from nearby. It was Ladon.

"So it was you," Ladon said furiously. Pit looked at the staff in surprise. Dark Pit's mouth hung open and he said sharply.

"Ladon!?" he said in surprise.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance. I knew long ago that you had killed her, back even before I knew that she was my sister," said Ladon, "But I held it in with my doubts in hope that it would vanish with the mission. But I can't hide from this any longer. I don't care if you are to save the gods or not! I'm killing you right here and now." Dark Pit suddenly grabbed the staff and looked it in the eye.

"NO!" he yells, "I WON'T LET YOU!" Ladon was shocked. Dark Pit continued.

"Lilia made me promise to not forget who I was before she died," said Dark Pit, "When I gave into my hatred, I broke my promise to her. I won't allow you to fall into the same trap!" There were a few moments of silence. Then, a huge blast of pink energy burst from Ladon and blew him backwards and onto the ground.

Pit stared at Ladon in shock.

"Ladon... what are you doing!?" Pit cried. Ladon fired another shot at Pit this time. Pit ducked the shot.

"I WILL AVENGE HER!" Ladon yelled suddenly glowing a very deep blood red, "YOU ARE BOTH TRAITORS!" As he began to fire again, Dark Pit spoke quietly, but loud enough for Pit to hear.

"You, are the traitor here," said Dark Pit calmly. As the staff fired, Pit summoned the EZ Cannon, hoping very deeply that the staff would remember himself in the rage he was in. Then, at the same time, both angels charged.

* * *

The turn was Raven's in the game of Go Fish. The score showed Magnus in the lead with four matches, and Aria in dead last. Raven looked around the group, trying to read their expressions. She saw Aria just sitting there. She was the only one out of all of them who seemed calm.

"Aria," said Raven, "Got any threes?"

"NOOOOO!" Aria cried. Raven took the three from her nonchalantly and said, "Thank you." Aria made a face at her. Raven turned to Vinnia.

"Do you have any sevens?" she asked. Vinnia's face broke into an evil grin.

"Go. Fish." said Vinnia wickedly.

"AUUGGHHH!" Raven screamed, grabbing the top card from the deck, hoping for a seven. She got a King. She slammed a fist on the table and pushed the card into her hand. Zephynn was up next.

He felt confident in his next guess.

"Gaol, do you have any sevens?" he asked. Gaol threw the card at him and Raven shot him a look. "Raven, sevens?" he said, smiling gleefully. Raven gave him the card, but before he could accept it, she punched him in the arm.

"OW!" Zephynn cried. As he picked up the card from the table, he shot Raven a nasty look and held his arm.

"Magnus," he said still holding his arm in pain, "Do you have any sixes."

"Go Fish wind boy," said Magnus from behind his cards. Zephynn slammed his bad arm against the table and screamed again before picking up a card with his other arm. Vinnia was next. She glared at Gaol.

"Gaol," she said grudgingly, "Do you have any fours?"

"Go Fish," said Gaol coldly. She responded by asking Vinnia for cards.

"Vinnia, do you have any fives?" asked Gaol confidently. Vinnia gave her a sweet smile.

"Pursue aquatic life," she said sweetly. As Gaol picked up her card, she said, "You suck."

"I heard that," said Vinnia. Gaol shot Vinnia a nasty glare. The turn moved onto Magnus. He looked at the two women smugly.

"Fours, fives; cough 'em up," said Magnus, pointing at the women smugly. There were multiple reactions to this. Gaol, after handing Magnus her five, leaned over and whispered something. Vinnia slammed her head into the table and Zephynn's mouth dropped open. Raven was simply staring in shock, while Aria was growling through gritted teeth. Magnus moved on to his next question.

"Zephynn, do you have any queens?" Magnus asked.

"Go Fish," said Zephynn immediately. Magnus took the card from the deck, took a look around it at Zephynn and smiled.

"Fished my wish," said Magnus. Zephynn groaned and his fist hit the table.

* * *

Pit was quickly thrown to the ground from another charge shot blast. He was knocked silly for about a second before dizzily getting up. The EZ Cannon had sustained a small dent from the powerful attack. Pit switched weapons to the Darkness Bow and fired multiple three round shots at the staff. The aura of rage around Ladon didn't even allow him to be fazed by any attacks by either of the angels. Between the enormously powerful fireballs that Dark Pit was sending from his blade and the shots fired by the Darkness Bow, nothing was working.

Both angels began to tire quickly from dodging the shots from Ladon. Pit found himself on the defensive and continued to dodge, noticing that Dark Pit's stamina seemed to be draining even more quickly than his. Then he heard Dark Pit yell:

"LILIA WOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOU!"

Ladon himself, whose mind had been blurred when he had gone into the rage, suddenly found himself coming back to his senses. The red that had tinted his vision when he had gone into the rage faded to normality. He stopped firing. He heard the words Dark Pit had yelled.

"Lilia..." he whimpered under his breath. He remembered. He remembered who she was. He remembered who everyone was. He realized that he had only remembered the outside things and things that happened physically. Now he remembered everyone's interior. Lilia's forgiving personality, how Dark Pit was affected by it, he remembered more people in his life and what they were like. The wave of his memory had washed in with the tide; it was all there.

"Lilia..." he said a little louder, "My sister..." Pit, sensing the battle was over, turned the Darkness Bow back into a weapon gem. He saw Dark Pit hide his weapon as well. They both walked over to Ladon.

"I apologize to you too," said Pit, "For what happened to you, and that I couldn't prevent it. Please understand that I feel guilt still. Now if only you will forgive me, perhaps it will all leave me."

"I have nothing to apologize for," said Dark Pit, "I've said my apologies." The staff looked between the two of them.

"I am the one who should be sorry," said Ladon, "I let myself be blinded by rage; that is my fifth and most fatal skill."

"I don't really know what that means, but I'm leaving," said Dark Pit, "But I don't care. I'm leaving." As Dark Pit moved to leave Pit spoke up.

"Just like that?" said Pit. Dark Pit ignored him and kept walking. Pit followed, taking Ladon in his hand and moving along.

* * *

Everyone's teeth were gritted. The tension between the six contestants was almost too much to handle. An audience of drunkards had gathered to watch the overly intense Go Fish game. Zephynn and Magnus were tied and Vinnia, Aria, Gaol, and Raven had almost nothing in terms of pairs compared to those two. It was Zephynn's turn. The tension was peaking even higher. Zephynn looked among his fellow contestants. He knew who had what, except for the other ten. He had no clue where it was. There was one card left in the deck. So he turned to Aria.

"Aria," he said nervously, "Do you have... any tens?" Aria breathed out in relief.

"Go Fishing," she said. Zephynn slammed his fist into the table and hurt his arm again before reaching for the last card with his good hand. The second he saw what number it showed, he grinned wickedly. He took another card from his hand and then slammed the pair on the table. Magnus gaped in shock.

"Fished my wish!" he yelled, "Magnus, Ace, Gaol, Jack, Vinnia, nine, Raven, three, Aria, two!" They all groaned in defeat and threw their cards at Zephynn he gathered them all up, placing them in pairs. Only Magnus acted civil at all. He handed the card over quietly. Then, Aria gasped. Everyone, the audience included turned to the door, where two angels, one dark, one light, were standing in the doorway.

"What's this about?" Dark Pit asked. Raven was the one to answer.

"Go Fish!" she squeaked in fright.

"Wait, so this was all over a Go Fish game?" Pit asked in disbelief.

"Yes," said Aria quickly. Both angels face-faulted in utter disbelief.

While the angels were trying to recover from what they had just heard, Magnus walked over to Zephynn and shook his hand.

"Good game," he said as Zephynn used the winds to put the cards back into the box. Zephynn was surprised at such a show of good sportsmanship, and returned the handshake. Little did he know, he had a lot more coming at him.


End file.
